Pin-up 

Edward Runci painted this Pin-up, featuring a woman in a green dress and headscarf, poised with a bath brush and a playful smile. The bath, a symbol of cleansing and renewal, stretches far back into antiquity; think of the Roman baths, communal spaces for purification and social interaction. Here, the bath is more intimate, yet the gesture of cleansing remains central. The woman’s confident gaze and the subtle eroticism of the scene are powerful forces that stir subconscious desires and memories. This imagery taps into deep-seated cultural associations, not unlike Botticelli’s Venus rising from the sea, reborn and radiant. The color green, adorning the woman’s dress and headscarf, echoes through centuries, from medieval tapestries symbolizing fertility to the verdant robes of Renaissance Madonnas, offering a sense of vitality and promise. Runci's work is not just a visual representation but a complex interplay of cultural symbols and historical echoes, revealing how images constantly evolve and resurface in our collective consciousness.