Le Cristal Building 1990

Editor: This is "Le Cristal Building," an acrylic painting from 1990 by Bernard Buffet. The buildings feel so raw, almost sketched in, especially with that prominent "Coca Cola" sign. What draws your attention when you look at it? Curator: I’m immediately drawn to the tension between the "high" and "low" represented here. We have the looming skyscrapers, symbols of corporate power and capital, rendered in this almost hurried, mass-produced feeling way in acrylics. Yet the textures show labor, a human presence. What do you make of the visual contrast, the line between the old and new buildings? Editor: I see what you mean! The skyscrapers are pristine, but those older brick buildings, with their fire escapes and signs...it's a really human scale compared to the corporate towers. Curator: Precisely. Consider the use of line, too. It's efficient, economical. Buffet seems less interested in precise representation and more in evoking a feeling, a process. This becomes almost a study of late-capitalism: look how signs promoting products such as Coca-cola become one of the subjects here! Do you get a sense that his materials – the cheap, almost disposable feel of acrylic – speak to that? Editor: Definitely! The quick application emphasizes the consumable nature of both the cityscape and its commercial messages. The painting is less a timeless artwork, and more an instance in a never-ending production-consumption cycle. It feels modern. Curator: It does. Buffet gives us a sense of the city as a site of production – both of goods and images, but also of culture itself. Something cheap like acrylic in this context provides insights on urban landscapes. Editor: So it’s about unpacking how economic forces influence what and how we make art? Curator: Exactly! And recognizing the inherent value in process, materials, and cultural messaging of the buildings represented. This perspective has made me think more deeply about the materials artists choose. Editor: Me too! I’ll never look at acrylics the same way.