Cobra Dance 

Curator: Samuel Mutzner's "Cobra Dance" immediately transports the viewer with its vibrant, shimmering quality. Editor: Oh, my! The colors are so rich, like something out of a dream. She seems so free. There’s an element of old world charm with a pinch of sensual liberation, isn't it? Curator: The composition situates the nude figure of a woman framed by an ornate archway, a strategy lending itself toward both framing and perhaps containment within Orientalist tropes. The pastel and drawing medium creates a delicate, almost ephemeral presence. Notice how the artist uses contrasting colors to define form and space. Editor: Yes, it’s almost dreamlike, but look at that arch. It feels more like a gilded cage. Those palms behind suggest exoticism. She is in that suggestive state, as though awakening to her power within a gilded cage... That is so provocative. Curator: The loose handling of line and color indeed contribute to the atmospheric and evocative quality. It seems that Mutzner plays on certain Western fantasies about the East, where gender roles are exoticized for the presumed gaze of the Western viewers. It’s impossible to view outside of its historically charged context. Editor: Right. But there is raw energy and the feeling is definitely very visceral. Look how the pink accents contrast to those aquamarine shadows... I can almost hear the rhythmic drums as she throws that cobra in the air! Her dance… Curator: Precisely. This use of color and the dynamic composition serve to destabilize rigid interpretations, even if these readings continue to echo. Editor: This piece lingers. It has been such a treat viewing Mutzner’s “Cobra Dance”. I’ll think about this a lot more, particularly about her experience and place. Curator: Absolutely. The drawing encourages further interrogation of those power dynamics. Thank you for these generative insights.