Fish Basket 1965

Curator: Eileen Agar's "Fish Basket," a mixed-media assemblage from 1965, stands before us. Agar, a significant figure in the British Surrealist movement, consistently challenged conventional artistic boundaries. Editor: My first impression? Whimsical, yet oddly unsettling. The basket tips precariously, and the objects within—are they found or deliberately placed? The bright colors are in tension with the decaying items within the basket itself. Curator: It’s important to understand that Agar’s work frequently draws from both the natural world and her own subconscious. The Surrealists aimed to unlock the creative potential of the unconscious mind, and in works such as "Fish Basket," we can interpret that process as a collision of organic forms and abstract shapes, unified into an unsettling whole. Agar was a product of institutions in art and education which often were overtly conservative, she consistently pushes against their restrictions in her assemblage. Editor: The materials themselves strike me. We have the roughness of the wicker juxtaposed against the smooth, painted wood of the abstracted "fish" shapes. Then, you notice things inside - perhaps sea-worn shells and some unidentifiable objects, organic yet seemingly decayed. Does this point to themes of nature versus artifice? Curator: I would argue yes. We have a constructed object – the basket – a symbol in itself, traditionally representing sustenance and bounty. Yet it holds objects that are in the midst of disintegration, as the fish float ethereally in the air without purpose or source. So, how do we place the work? Does it critique the expectations of domesticity, or comment on consumption culture? Or something even less conscious? Editor: Precisely! Agar herself likely wouldn't confine her work to one specific meaning. And it reminds us that a so-called basket may instead suggest, as with Duchamp, other human-scaled architectural locations – like an apartment! The basket could very well house identities, or personas – it speaks perhaps, to an understanding of how an art piece is only worth what is contained in it. Curator: So, what lasting thought does "Fish Basket" offer? Editor: For me, it's a challenge to perceive beauty in decay, and recognize the beauty that surreal juxtapositions afford. The work provides a potent invitation for new narratives between our cultural landscape, our shared resources and what identity has to hold in a post-war, modernist frame. Curator: Yes, it reminds me how institutional validation works with art that continues to elude easy categorisation. "Fish Basket" is an ongoing testament to Agar's daring and originality.