To the Tower 1981

Editor: This is Sandro Chia's "To the Tower," seemingly a print. The figures are so heavy, almost sculptural, and the ground is scratchy, which gives it a strange tension. What do you see in its formal elements? Curator: The tension you observe arises from the deliberate juxtaposition of textures. The coarse, almost frenetic hatching of the background contrasts with the smooth, voluminous forms of the figures. Observe how Chia uses line to define volume, rather than contour. What does that accomplish? Editor: It makes them seem more monumental and less defined, more about mass than identity, I guess. I hadn't noticed that before. Thanks! Curator: Precisely. Consider how that ambiguity serves the overall composition and its enigmatic narrative.