Curatorial notes
Curator: The artwork before us, "Mountain," was created in 1958 by Enrico Baj. There's something disquieting about this mixed-media work, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Yes, immediately, it feels a bit… agitated. The craggy mountain form against the ornate wallpaper creates an unsettling juxtaposition. It's not the serene landscape one might expect. Curator: Exactly! Baj often aimed to disrupt conventional expectations. The backdrop itself, this pale blue and floral wallpaper, typically symbolizes domesticity and bourgeois comfort. Placing this turbulent mountain range against it seems to be a deliberate challenge. Editor: It’s an interesting choice. The mountain form is almost like a primal force pushing against a constructed artifice. Mountains in art can be a symbol for many things: steadfastness, spiritual ascent… What readings are invited here by Baj? Curator: The mountain as steadfast is perhaps ironic, given the fragmented nature of the image. Baj, in the post-war era, was deeply concerned with anxieties of existentialism, with society’s role in shaping the individual… Editor: It seems the mountain itself is under duress, being consumed by a destructive process. The visual effect of layering, the almost pointillist texture, recalls earlier depictions of nature reduced to pure abstraction. We might look to late Turner landscapes here as antecedents. It is reminiscent of erosion, both physical and perhaps, metaphorical. Curator: That erosion reading certainly resonates, particularly considering the socio-political climate of the time. Traditional notions of landscape, nation, and identity were undergoing immense transformation and strain after WWII. The tension presented reflects, perhaps, the instability of these structures in post-war society. Editor: I also wonder if the very concept of the "sublime" is at play here, given this combination of beauty and… destruction. The mountain is imposing, monumental. Curator: A sublime that has perhaps become undone? It’s worth mentioning Baj’s involvement with the Nuclear Art movement, expressing anxieties about technological advancement, and humanity’s relationship to the world. This adds an especially chilling dimension to that sense of destruction. Editor: Precisely. Considering all this, what appeared at first to be a clash between organic and artificial may point toward broader anxieties of the era. Thank you for contextualizing the mountain as more than just a beautiful vista! Curator: My pleasure. I always find that digging beneath the initial image reveals just how politically engaged these seemingly "abstract" works really are!