Coms Flors Verdes sobre negre 2 1996

Curator: At first glance, I see an overall field of dispersed forms suspended between figure and ground. What’s your immediate reading, Editor? Editor: My initial reaction is that the artist really enjoyed applying the paint. It appears thick and almost unrefined, doesn’t it? I wonder about their physical process of layering the colours, especially with what looks like acrylic on canvas. Curator: Indeed, a palpable surface. We are looking at "Coms Flors Verdes sobre negre 2" by Joan Hernandez Pijuan, created in 1996. Editor: Flowers? That’s quite a conceptual leap! It’s really the material quality and technique of those ‘flower’ forms against that blackened surface that interests me. Did he allow the medium to inform the end result? It does strike me as being quite process-driven. Curator: The apparent simplicity belies a complex interplay of semiotic potential. Consider how the colour choice generates contrasting relationships—how does the formal repetition operate, transforming those initial blobs into something that reads almost botanical? Editor: Colour choices, yes, and I suppose one could extend this reading. It does look laboured though, and the scale also indicates it may not have been a ‘finished’ piece as such, maybe some experimentation with how those forms function independently and together. I suppose the name helps create meaning though, because without that, I would never imagine flowers at all. It's closer to a pattern in this case, and patterns have a repetitive rhythm in any creative task—be it industrial processes or craftwork. Curator: Rhythm is an interesting point, especially in terms of how one engages with the pictorial space. And is this repetition a signifier for growth, evolution, decay...? Editor: Decay too. Notice also how the materiality seems to extend right into the edges, with very little room for rest—that seems integral to understanding his gesture. Curator: Yes, certainly the lack of framing offers us much, forcing the piece beyond the role of sign, engaging with the real. Editor: Indeed, much to reflect upon. This reminds us that artistic practices are, after all, still connected to the realities and limitations of materials at hand. Curator: Absolutely, a reminder that within art, perception creates all.