Waiting room VI 2019

Curator: Jarik Jongman's oil painting, "Waiting room VI," created in 2019. A rather bleak title already colors our viewing, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Immediately. The near monochrome palette of muddy browns and blacks, punctuated by the cold light spilling from the window, establishes a melancholic mood. The chairs themselves are practically dissolving into the gloom. Curator: Yes, the high degree of realism, particularly in the textures, contrasts with the unsettling feeling of transience. Jongman's use of impasto—thickly applied paint— gives palpable form to decay. What is your take on that stark compositional tension? Editor: Functionally, it generates the piece’s central, underlying drama. Socially, it evokes a certain period and societal position. Places like this existed. Neglect, waiting. They show an absence. Who waited here, and why, that's the implied narrative the space makes the viewer complete in their own head. Curator: Precisely. Notice how the stark horizontal window breaks the darker verticality of the whole piece. A beacon. While seemingly out of reach. How would you interpret the meaning of this contrast in context? Editor: That lone, rather luminous rectangle seems to promise escape or, at least, a different reality. Considering the broader cultural discourse, waiting rooms are spaces of in-between, transition zones loaded with societal anxieties concerning class, access, and authority. I find the artist's composition here is directly echoing social concepts and unease. Curator: Absolutely. Also how the composition directs the viewers eye towards this 'exit'. But the use of line, light and space, implies that the 'exit' may as well be an optical allusion; or compositional device. How about the role the unadorned window plays here? Editor: Without external distractions, the light itself becomes the focus; pure potential. It offers a moment of silent reflection; even contemplation. Despite the heavy theme and history, the artwork leaves space to consider the role of reflection and hope within bleak settings. Curator: Very insightful. It serves as a poignant reminder of individual fortitude amidst institutional decay. Jongman's art isn't merely replicating a space. Editor: No, it's actively interrogating what that space represents and does in and out of context of its construction. Food for thought.