Whimsical Fruit of Mythology 2019

Editor: Here we have Michael Cheval's oil painting, "Whimsical Fruit of Mythology," created in 2019. It immediately strikes me as an odd, dream-like scene. A woman plays the violin in a bizarre corridor, with a swan just standing there. What do you make of this unusual composition? Curator: Indeed. Note how the artist segments the figure and the ground, with surreal anatomical displacements, contrasts sharply with a Renaissance approach of perspective. Observe the sharp lines defining each geometric block of the infinite arcade of pillars and arches versus the soft lines of the figure’s Renaissance attire. Editor: It’s like two different realities are crashing into each other, and the swan appears quite real, but that just adds another layer of dissonance. Curator: The tonal scale in use contributes as well. It’s the unexpected arrangement of color that’s noteworthy—how the bright orange floor clashes against the dull colors of the woman’s figure. Ask yourself how that affects your reading of the whole. The use of light gives certain presence to some features, such as the chess-pattern floor and the plumage of the Swan. Note how this Swan is centrally staged but clearly avoids becoming the actual center of attention of the composition as a whole. Editor: I suppose it guides us up toward the figure of the musician in the end. It’s a strangely effective focal point, though the anatomy does not read that well to me. I almost find her repulsive and that surprises me. Curator: And that discomfort comes from how Cheval juxtaposes styles, doesn't it? The almost academic study of that violinist, combined with this cartoon-like body-shape modification, is purposefully unnerving. It disrupts conventional standards of beauty. What one considers harmony to be might just be culturally defined… Editor: Exactly! So, the beauty—or lack thereof—becomes part of the conversation? Fascinating. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure!