Twenty-Five Years. The Past Meets the Present 

Curator: Well, here we have a fascinating drawing by David Low, titled “Twenty-Five Years. The Past Meets the Present." The piece is rendered using watercolor and colored pencil. It’s a large group of men facing each other on, ostensibly, a cloud. Editor: It's odd, isn't it? Visually compelling, though! Feels like some kind of political fever dream. Look at those tiny legs! They're almost comical against the weight of those upper bodies. Makes the whole scene teeter on the edge of absurdity, don't you think? Curator: Absurdity is certainly one reading. Low masterfully employs caricature. Each figure, individually and as a group, can be approached using semiotics. Observe how the artist has taken conventional physical features and manipulated them. The exaggerated noses, the posture, the disproportionate limbs... Editor: I am wondering, what past and what present? I mean I am looking at all these very serious faces from another era and somehow feel that I can also look at some political stages in modern day with the very same image.. Perhaps time truly does circle around. I wonder what's happening here between them, that photographer seems eager to snap a picture as he stands behind this almost bathing-suit dressed man, or is that striped pajama? Curator: Yes, there's a clear narrative element here, almost a theatrical staging of ideological differences. You'll notice the division in the composition: two distinct groups confronting each other. I find this artistic technique very telling for emphasizing an era of social change and, likely, ideological debate. The materiality also contributes to the impact: watercolor lending a dreamlike quality, grounded by the deliberate mark-making of the colored pencil. The formal choices heighten the message itself. Editor: A theatrical production happening on the stage of history with costumes representing different factions! It makes me want to know the true background story about what Low had in mind, and still… despite all this seriousness and the grand presentation, these small legs that make me smile somehow remind me how fragile all the great dramas truly are. Curator: Indeed. Low gives us so much to look at. Considering its overall compositional rigor coupled with what you point out to be, its understated humor, the artwork becomes a fascinating record of a complex era. Editor: Absolutely, this one stays with you, and it definitely stimulates the mind!