Race 1972

Curator: Well, look at this wild energy! Neiman’s 1972 piece, "Race", is a full-throttle explosion of acrylic on canvas. Editor: It just bursts, doesn’t it? A complete sensory overload. I can practically hear the thundering hooves and the roar of the crowd. It’s almost… violent? In a beautiful way, of course. Curator: The way Neiman deploys acrylic paint is so immediate and gestural, capturing movement by what I consider abstraction more so than pure realism. You know, his use of color really emphasizes the commodification of sporting events at this time. There’s a celebration of color television, a very active market! Editor: I agree, its pop sensibility speaks to mass culture, yet there’s an inherent sense of individualism. Like the horses are rebelling in a rainbow apocalypse. Curator: It also touches upon the artist's labor. With a focus on commercial appeal and the techniques for the swift production and distribution of artworks at the time. Did it require artistic mastery and craft to pull something like this off so dynamically? That's for the art appreciator to decide. Editor: Indeed. To my eye, his fauvist and expressionistic approaches create something new entirely. It's as if the horses, riders, and the energy itself were birthed onto the canvas by the pressure, emotion, and raw velocity inherent in the very nature of this competitive sport. Do you believe his unique color blocking affects his technique? Curator: Precisely! And you get that the way Neiman builds up color actually disrupts conventional representation in favor of… Editor: Sensory expression, you mean? A pursuit more psychological than merely figurative, certainly. Curator: What he provides to our eyes can definitely stand to both inspire the artist, but also provide a critique of consumer culture. The canvas stands both beautiful and subversive, and that might be why so many are so fond of his works, whether they believe so or not. Editor: "Race" indeed captures not just a horse race, but the exhilarating tension, chaos, and colorful essence of life itself, if I may wax philosophical. Thank you for that deep consideration, truly. Curator: Thank you! A pleasure to offer new insights.