Pigmalion B 2019

Curator: Let's delve into "Pigmalion B," an oil painting crafted in 2019 by Dragan Ilić Di Vogo. Its fusion of portraiture and surreal elements immediately positions it as something…more than meets the eye. Editor: My initial gut reaction is a kind of melancholic dream. The nude figure is gorgeous, obviously, but there's also this vulnerable, exposed quality amplified by the dreamy, cosmic landscape she's in. It feels like a private reverie, almost unsettlingly intimate. Curator: Precisely. The title alludes to the myth of Pygmalion, a sculptor who fell in love with his own creation, later brought to life by Aphrodite. This painting, I believe, compels us to consider the multifaceted themes of creation, desire, and objectification, framed within a contemporary sociopolitical context. The female figure, often a passive object of the male gaze throughout art history, seems to be actively imbued with surreal, vibrant agency here. Editor: It's interesting how you frame the traditional myth; I see those splashes of vibrant color on her skin as… I don’t know… joyful defiance, like she’s rewriting her own story with every brushstroke. The planets in the background aren’t just decorative; they suggest her world extends beyond the physical. Maybe beyond definition itself? Curator: Absolutely. Di Vogo utilizes surrealism to challenge traditional power dynamics within representation. The nude form isn't presented as a mere object; rather, she occupies a space of complex subjectivity. The juxtaposition of the classically rendered figure with the abstract splashes and celestial spheres is particularly thought-provoking in light of second-wave feminism, when female artists wrestled against established perspectives of femininity. Editor: It feels like it transcends any one reading. I'm left with this beautiful contradiction, a longing for something both earthly and otherworldly. I might need to sit with that for a while. Curator: A beautiful paradox, indeed, capturing the multifaceted aspects of human emotion, as well as historical baggage. The artist certainly created something beyond the act of art itself here.