Sensitive Action 1954

Curator: Mikuláš Medek’s "Sensitive Action," completed in 1954, is a compelling work done in oil paint, isn't it? I'm struck by how he manages to evoke such vulnerability. Editor: Yes, immediately I'm struck by a sense of raw exposure. The solitary figure rendered in that unsettling crimson, set against the cool blues—it feels incredibly exposed, almost wounded. Curator: The redness permeates, yes. Red ochre has often been associated with the primal, with lifeblood, even rituals relating to mummification practices in many cultures. So what does that bring up for you here, coupled with this exposed, intimate figuration? Editor: It emphasizes that vulnerability, as though the skin has been stripped away to reveal something profoundly raw and almost traumatized. It’s reminiscent of the political art from that era in post-war Europe. Medek was creating during a period of intense scrutiny and state control, the body almost becomes a battleground. Curator: Exactly! The obscured eye, that intense gaze from behind the mask of the hand, speaks volumes. It's reminiscent of how figures are depicted in early Byzantine iconography. Often, covering or revealing the face has very particular connotations relating to power, access and forbidden knowledge. What do you think the sensitive action is then? Editor: It seems that Medek asks who is seeing and being seen? What are the politics of gazing? I mean it feels deliberate to expose a vulnerable body with an arm and hand in the way of covering their face to also allow for a singular glaring eye. Are we the perpetrators of exploitation here? Curator: That resonates. And what a striking paradox: to partially veil the self while presenting the body so openly, the tension that arises tells a specific psychological and sociopolitical story. Editor: Definitely. Looking at this from the perspective of the observer and observed, Medek's handling of the composition is unsettling. "Sensitive Action," in that light, suggests to me that what's presented is so emotionally and politically complex that only an attuned approach is warranted. The title could be a prompt for appropriate viewing in these tense times. Curator: An astute observation, I wonder what we have been directed to glimpse beneath the surface and how our experience alters the resonance of this image. I leave contemplating Medek's creation even more acutely aware of art's potential to bear witness.