Untitled 2011

Curator: The somber stillness here is quite arresting. It feels almost architectural in its arrangement of geometric forms. Editor: You're right, it possesses a weighty presence. This "Untitled" piece by Sharon Etgar, created in 2011, explores abstraction through collage and mixed media drawing techniques. It's an exercise in layering and obscuring. Curator: I immediately consider how the shapes mirror and fragment institutional power. The black square looms, but its rough edges suggest a dismantling. Are we looking at a metaphor for broken authority? Editor: That’s a compelling interpretation. I am interested in understanding what shaped her practice and to what artistic debates of modernism she may have responded. Perhaps she considered how collage challenges traditional painting, or how to approach working with unconventional materials. Curator: Perhaps Etgar uses geometric abstraction here as a conscious nod to predecessors, whilst pushing for its deconstruction. Looking at the choice of muted colors – blacks, grays, beiges – and incorporating materials like what seems to be a page from a ledger, speaks volumes. Are we witnessing her commentary on socio-economic imbalances and their consequences on the artistic vision? Editor: It's conceivable. A lot depends on how her artistic output has engaged with the history of political art and the development of formal strategies that can, at the very least, signal commitment. Her other works might help understand that commitment. We need a survey. Curator: Precisely. We could delve into how her intersectional identity – considering her location, gender, race, if relevant – manifests within the framework. Ultimately, what are we left with after our own deconstruction of this striking piece? Editor: For me, it is a crucial question on abstraction's continuing power, a testament to how artists reflect— and comment on—the present through form and materiality. Curator: And for me, it highlights the continuous need to challenge accepted norms through any artistic lens.