Dinner At Le Chat Noir 

Curator: What catches my eye first in Dan Graziano’s “Dinner at Le Chat Noir” is the overall warmth. It’s bathed in these beautiful oranges and reds that speak to the intimacy of a shared meal, perhaps a whispered secret. Editor: I’m drawn to the sheer layering of it, the way the paint is worked. It’s so immediate and evocative, especially observing how Graziano captures the fabric of the waiter's apron, the almost crude texture implying its materiality and perhaps even the repetitious labour involved. Curator: Exactly! The looseness adds to the feeling of a fleeting moment. Look how he captures the light glancing off the glassware on the tables, little sparks of conversation mirrored in the physical objects. The famous "Le Chat Noir" poster hangs in the back there too - subtle! A nice tongue in cheek reference by Graziano. I almost feel I can hear the murmur of voices, the clinking of cutlery. Editor: It makes you consider the social context, doesn’t it? Cafes have always been a hub, particularly in a city environment. The material fact of the cafe space, then and now, allows this specific mode of interaction, from the table setting down to the print hanging in the back. Curator: And I think Graziano taps into that beautifully. There's a melancholic beauty to it, wouldn't you agree? It isn't just the place, but also the feeling of togetherness and transience… We're here, now, but the moment slips away as we look at it. It asks about more than what meets the eye - it questions who belongs here. What does it mean to be here, right now? Editor: Precisely. It is a genre painting of sorts but a challenge, because where "high" art so often avoids a blatant, obvious awareness of its making, pieces such as this instead allow viewers to access its materiality as a starting point, thereby becoming open to all those wonderful questions that follow from that starting point, such as "who has a seat at the table"? Curator: Right! Overall, the way this piece holds emotion... it sings. A gentle song, but definitely worth a listen. Editor: I'll never look at a painting the same again! It has certainly given me something to think about in terms of art’s relation to the everyday.