Schadenfreude 

Curator: Looking at Alex Gross's painting, Schadenfreude, I'm immediately struck by a sense of… unease, a party where nobody really seems to be enjoying themselves. It's so meticulously painted, yet deeply unsettling. Editor: Yes, it's got that kind of realism, a high-fidelity finish that intensifies the underlying message. It's easy to see the pop surrealism in it too. Look at the floating heads and the scenes depicted within paintings inside this painting. This is definitely not a straightforward celebration. Curator: Exactly! It feels almost Lynchian in its weirdness. Are we meant to be laughing at these characters, or are we meant to feel sorry for them? And where does that title fit into it all? "Schadenfreude" – taking pleasure in other's misfortunes… it implicates us, the viewers, doesn't it? Editor: Precisely. The Asian theme that some people see might relate to the artist's known use of Japanese pop culture references, layering different forms of contemporary alienation. Look at the women especially – they are very fashionable, elegant almost, but they possess a flatness. This echoes anxieties about self-image and consumerism, things like identity and belonging in our hyper-mediated world. Curator: The detail is extraordinary too, isn't it? It really forces you to confront these strangely vacant expressions. Those men, framed in the paintings... are they meant to be ancestors, projecting their expectations onto these women? They definitely come across as ghostly, judgmental onlookers. Editor: It is striking. Gross also uses portraiture as a vehicle for commentary, much like early modern painters engaged the form for moral and political lessons. This portrait-heavy picture feels like a critical reflection on class, power, and maybe even privilege, using recognizable painting tropes to ask uneasy questions. It definitely prompts us to examine who benefits from systems of inequity. Curator: That makes so much sense. The initial jarring impression has faded and I am now intrigued and compelled to continue searching the painting to extract more details that fit together in its critical design. Editor: Yes, in the end it’s Gross's layered composition, combined with recognizable style, that provokes deep reflection on who we are, how we look, and what is deemed “worthy” of a place within these systems.