Richard IV 1967

Curator: Harold Cohen's "Richard IV" presents us with a fascinating study in pattern and repetition. The image plane is almost entirely filled with serried ranks of dots, but the overlaid image of the English King is clearly visible. Editor: It's oddly unsettling. The colors—mauve and pea green—clash in a way that hints at Richard's inner turmoil. The dots feel like a kind of insistent pressure. Curator: Yes, but consider how the dots unify the image. They act as a fundamental structuring element, almost overriding the representational aspect. Without them, the image wouldn't hold together. Editor: Perhaps they reflect the constant scrutiny Richard faced, the pressure of public image bearing down on his humanity, with the green shapes representing the natural world. Curator: Or perhaps, the dots are simply that: dots. Cohen’s primary concern might be how visual information is processed and interpreted, making use of a very basic unit. Editor: Well, either way, it's certainly a potent image, a distillation of power, paranoia, and perhaps, a touch of madness.