Shadow on a Deckchair 

Curator: Ah, Iwo Zaniewski’s “Shadow on a Deckchair.” What I love is how it captures that liminal space between visibility and obscurity. Editor: Liminal indeed. My first thought: gorgeous materiality! That charcoal looks velvety. And it's so...still. Almost mournful. Is that just me? Curator: No, I get that. Zaniewski often delves into quite introspective territories. Notice the rough brush strokes— almost violent against that soft charcoal. There’s a tension, wouldn't you say? He seems to relish that friction, as though exploring what discomfort means in times of supposed leisure. Editor: Discomfort definitely resonates. Makes you consider what the surface level conceals: production costs of leisure items, labour relations involved in deckchair manufacturing. Do you see it fitting into the Abstract Expressionist movement, like the tags say? Curator: Absolutely, and yet it almost transcends it too, doesn’t it? The raw emotionality, the gestural marks – nods to the style for sure – but the monochrome palette adds a layer of, dare I say, universality? Stripping away colour distills it to pure form, pure shadow. The very essence of, well, taking a pause. Or is it facing existential darkness on one's own? I can't say, can anyone truly say? Editor: Fair enough. Although if we think about access to leisure as tied to labour structures and socioeconomic standing... that monochrome palette starts to read a bit like class commentary, perhaps? Or at least prompts consideration. I mean, charcoal itself – so humble and easily sourced, a world away from, say, Lapis Lazuli. Curator: An excellent point! The humility of materials reflecting a humbler reality than one presented on the surface is certainly food for thought. You know, sometimes I wonder if he intentionally chose a scene of repose specifically to disrupt that sense of tranquility. Editor: Well, disrupted it has, wonderfully so. It highlights how something as seemingly innocuous as a shadow on a deckchair has the capacity to embody broader societal considerations. Curator: Agreed. I'll certainly never look at another deckchair quite the same way again. Editor: Likewise! Materiality and metaphor intertwining. Powerful combination, that.