Untitled I 1964

Curator: Kenneth Rowell, born in 1922, created this vibrant, untitled image. What strikes you first about it? Editor: The rawness, definitely. And this sense of someone caught between worlds, the figure seemingly floating amidst chaos. Curator: Rowell had a distinguished career in Australian theatre design. His focus was often on narrative. Do you see this sense of a constructed scene here? Editor: Absolutely, though disrupted. The dreamlike quality juxtaposes with the graphic stripes, challenging any linear reading of the “story.” The figure appears vulnerable, exposed. Curator: His design background perhaps led him to create visual spectacle that questioned, rather than affirmed, societal norms. Editor: Right, and what norms are being challenged here? I see gender roles, perhaps, challenged by the figure’s passivity in the face of potential threat, but that might just be me. Curator: Interesting. It’s this visual openness that allows it to be continually re-interpreted by audiences that keeps us engaged with his work. Editor: It's a conversation starter, certainly. I leave now with more questions than answers, and that's precisely why it resonates.