‘kasasere’ 2021

Curator: Welcome. Today, we’re observing ‘kasasere’ a mixed-media painting on canvas created in 2021 by Cornelius Annor. Editor: Immediately, I am struck by a sense of quiet contemplation and perhaps a touch of melancholy in the composition. The palette feels intentionally subdued. Curator: The visual dynamic is striking. Notice the stark contrast between the patterns adorning one figure and the muted tones of the other. The patterns could be understood as active semiotic devices within the artwork's structure. Editor: Indeed. The artist deploys a dialogue between patterned and un-patterned fabrics as commentary, specifically referencing the historical context of African textiles and the loaded significance embedded within these visual codes. What power dynamics do you suppose Annor might be trying to elicit through this choice? Curator: Well, shifting back to the canvas’s technical properties, observe how the artist applies layering and slight impasto that grant it a complex texture. Editor: The use of material texture seems intentionally devised to communicate ideas about presence and history through touch. Given the context, it may address ideas about memory or possibly disruption of traditional narrative approaches? Curator: Note also how formal aspects interact: the geometry of the textile contrasts the soft curvature of the figures' posture and attire. These formal relations build tension, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Most assuredly, it is this push and pull between aesthetic form and subject that evokes social and historical dialogues around heritage. This work invites a deconstruction of identity via both fabric and figure, especially thinking through how it's staged through modes of looking. Curator: 'kasasere' succeeds at posing challenging visual ideas and offering considerable chromatic balance and formal dexterity. Editor: In its powerful intersectionality and layered meanings, ‘kasasere’ resonates, creating space for reflections on visibility, representation, and perhaps the reclaiming of self.