Studio Guy 2017

Editor: We’re looking at David Michael Hinnebusch’s "Studio Guy," from 2017. It's a vibrant, almost frenetic, mixed-media piece with really striking colors. It gives me a feeling of chaotic energy, like a city at full speed. What catches your eye about it? Curator: My focus immediately goes to the eyes themselves. Note how disproportionate they are, almost cartoonish, yet intensely expressive. What archetypes do they bring to mind for you? Perhaps the all-seeing eye, a watchful gaze, or something more fragmented, a fractured perception? Editor: I hadn’t thought of it like that! The eyes do seem like they're observing… but also judging? Is that a modern take on classical portraiture? Curator: Consider the history of portraiture, its frequent association with power and status. Now, reflect on this deconstructed face: is it celebrating or challenging that history? The layering of mixed media—acrylics, possibly collage—adds to this tension, blurring boundaries, like graffiti reclaiming space. Editor: So, it’s a conversation with art history, using urban art’s visual language? Curator: Precisely. The artist uses familiar symbols – eyes, a face, a signature – and destabilizes them. Consider the placement of the name, fragmented at the bottom and as if scrawled onto the right; it raises questions about identity, authorship, and permanence in a rapidly changing world. What emotional resonance do you perceive when you look at it now? Editor: Seeing those details... it feels less chaotic, more like a commentary. A challenge to traditional notions of the portrait, of the artist's "signature," and of how we see ourselves. Curator: And perhaps that's its enduring power: the re-evaluation and reconstruction of meaning we bring to such potent symbols. Editor: I never would have seen all that at first glance. I’m looking at it in a completely different light now.