Ol’ School 

Curator: The piece before us is titled “Ol’ School” by Alfred Conteh, an ink and oil drawing on paper. There’s such directness in it. What strikes you? Editor: Honesty, really. I'm struck by the... gravitas. There's something intensely thoughtful and knowing about the man portrayed here. It almost feels like looking at lived experience etched in lines. Curator: Conteh certainly uses line work to powerful effect. The way he builds form is really interesting, an almost frenetic energy in the details. The work gives a real sense of history but without telling us the specifics of what it actually represents. Editor: It is interesting that you speak about how line work conveys form in this work because what stood out to me at first sight was precisely its form, with the colors, contrasting with the aquamarine background. I feel invited to meditate and appreciate the way light shapes it, even when the lines aren’t so accurate or carefully placed. Curator: That's insightful. The textured background has an energy all its own. I get a sense of history and cultural identity imbued in the background and then reinforced by the main figure portrayed. This man looks like he has stories etched on his skin, it gives you an insight of all the possible realities that the drawing suggests. Editor: Exactly! There's something universal about his expression and features too. We could all, in our own ways, recognize this man and recognize ourselves in this piece too. In that way it makes you meditate on yourself. Curator: Alfred Conteh's art really invites that kind of introspection, I would say. It asks us to connect with figures of the past, and it connects those figures to contemporary society in ways that inspire discussion about the challenges of race, cultural background and how memory is constructed and transmitted. Editor: I concur completely. So much so I would like to make art a part of my days!