Act III: The Final Judgment: So he departed on another Track Possibly 1980 - 1981

Arthur Tress made this collage print called Act III: The Final Judgment: So he departed on another Track sometime in the 20th century. This image reminds me of the process of painting because it’s theatrical, illusionistic, and a little bit absurd. It's like Tress has constructed a stage set for the imagination. I wonder if he found a pile of old engravings and set about arranging them just so, seeing how they spoke to each other. I imagine him moving things around, adding and subtracting, tilting his head and squinting to get it just right. The giant eyeball, the watch, the train tracks, and the opera house backdrop, all feel like characters in a bizarre dream. I love the tension between the flat, graphic quality of the collage elements and the illusion of depth and space. And what’s that eyeball doing there? Is it a voyeuristic presence, or is it a stand-in for the viewer? It reminds me of the work of other artists who create surreal, dreamlike scenarios, like René Magritte or Joseph Cornell. It feels like an invitation to explore the subconscious. Art is a conversation and artists are always in dialogue with one another, borrowing, stealing, and riffing off of each other's ideas.