Dressed up 2016

Curator: This photograph, "Dressed Up" by Babak-Matveev, made in 2016, is a compelling piece of digital art. What strikes you immediately? Editor: My immediate impression is of playful absurdity. The high saturation, the unusual juxtapositions of clothing and props – it feels deliberately chaotic. There is a visual tension at play between this seemingly handcrafted image and the way the photographic process enables its creation. Curator: The composition certainly uses a vibrant, pop-art aesthetic. Look closely at the layered use of saturated colour—it nearly vibrates! Beyond that, there's an interesting tension created by the contrast between what we might assume as contemporary and more primitive design elements. Editor: Absolutely, and I’m curious about the production. The piece's themes appear rooted in this intersection between labor and the body through the unusual juxtaposition of hard work imagery. Curator: It’s quite fascinating how the artist employs familiar tropes of identity politics. Considering the figures themselves—their garments and facial expressions seem to perform or perhaps parody conventional displays of cultural identity. It suggests an artistic and theoretical engagement through playful yet somewhat unnerving semiotics. Editor: Precisely! It begs the question: what are the artist’s material practices beyond the camera, so to speak? I am very curious about the process that goes into capturing these kinds of performative interventions in a given space. How does he manage to get his subject to carry scythes, wear floral crowns, and sport striped underwear? Is it a singular performance for the sake of being captured in photo, or is he part of the spectacle as well? Curator: What you articulate beautifully highlights that intersectionality where elements of pop art and photography seem to merge and clash in what becomes a captivating study of identity, culture, and the means we use to create them. The image is quite loaded; its layered content leaves so much to unpack! Editor: A wonderfully contradictory image to contemplate. I’m intrigued by how materials of art, performance and image are being pushed and played here and how we continue to negotiate our assumptions about what we take art to be in everyday spaces.