Mural 

Curator: Here we have a work entitled "Mural" by Luis Dourdil. It appears to be rendered in pencil. What's your immediate take? Editor: Somber, very somber. The grouping feels…controlled, almost posed against those stark geometric forms. It evokes a strange sort of institutional feel for me. Curator: An interesting read, because that somber feeling connects directly, in my view, to what a "mural" traditionally signifies: public address, social commentary, a communal statement. Here, though, that feels subverted. The figures seem withdrawn, individual rather than unified. Editor: Absolutely, but I also can't help thinking about the process. All that pencil work to get this mural effect. It must have required patience and attention to craft the whole composition with simple graphite. There's something intriguing about choosing such an ordinary tool to create something with a monumentality about it. Curator: Yes, I am drawn to the artist's choice in material; a pencil work intended to be viewed as a mural gives a peculiar tension, and creates visual codes. Think about how pencils themselves have connotations; they speak to processes of learning, teaching, instruction, or record keeping. Consider this in light of that withdrawn communal affect you spoke of previously. I'm starting to wonder what collective cultural script they embody… Editor: And notice how that almost classical posing plays into the same theme. Even the shadows are rendered with such delicacy, but it all contributes to this strangely weighted presence, made entirely through the act of repeated material gesture. One single trace at a time building up this collective expression. It feels weighty but… fleeting? Curator: I think so. It seems to tap into cultural anxieties or maybe societal fragmentation. The very act of turning figures away suggests a deeper issue. What historical narrative is he trying to challenge with this symbolic reordering of the figures? It also feels open to endless interpretation given that we don't know the specific date for this image. Editor: Right, so what begins as a pretty traditional medium gets upended by process, ultimately producing something far from traditional both to experience and ponder. Curator: An artwork offering great depth from such subtle symbolic manipulation, and material construction, agreed.