Diamond Head Hawaii 1988

Curator: This vibrant piece is titled "Diamond Head Hawaii," created in 1988 by LeRoy Neiman. Editor: Immediately, the energy jumps out. It’s so lively – a real Fauvist explosion of color! I feel like I’m right there on Waikiki Beach, amidst all the bustle. Curator: Neiman, known for capturing the energy of sporting events and social gatherings, employs a plein-air technique here, resulting in an immediacy that’s characteristic of his style. He certainly moved beyond sports here. We're looking at leisure. Editor: Absolutely. And there's this flattened perspective, almost naive, but the chromatic intensity gives it real punch. What social dynamics was he perhaps highlighting here? The commodification of leisure, the tourist gaze…? Curator: It’s interesting to consider Neiman’s positionality as an artist documenting leisure culture, the post-colonial implications of tourism in Hawaii. We need to address the labor obscured within this leisure scene – the workers servicing these carefree beachgoers. Editor: Right, it's never just sun and surf. Neiman is framing this spectacle. He has an eye, but maybe misses something too? Curator: The bright colors are doing a lot of work here; the painting offers an uncomplicated snapshot. We must, though, look beyond the image itself. Who benefits from these kinds of portrayals, and whose voices are missing from this sunny vista? Editor: Thinking about representation is key. The painting pulses with the optimism of a certain era, just before we fully reckoned with late-stage capitalism and globalization. The promise was real but unequally distributed. Curator: This work invites us to engage critically with its apparent joy, questioning the historical and contemporary structures of power at play within tourist economies. Editor: So, a vibrant escape, yet also a pointed reminder.