Sassin, Richard & Christopher Long 05-17-87 1987

Editor: Here we have Don Bachardy's "Sassin, Richard & Christopher Long 05-17-87," dimensions roughly 30 by 22 inches. It's vibrant, almost aggressively colorful. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: The rapid, almost frenetic application of watercolor implicates the artist's hand directly. The work becomes about the performance of portraiture, the labor involved in capturing these men. Editor: So, it's less about likeness and more about...the act of creating? Curator: Precisely. Consider the economic and social status implied by access to an artist's time and materials. The means of production are laid bare, the labor visible. Editor: That's a completely different way of seeing it than I initially had! Curator: By focusing on the material, we shift our attention from the subjects themselves to the process of their representation and the social dynamics at play.