Dimensions: support: 1302 x 972 mm
Copyright: © DACS, 2014 | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: This is Dorothea Tanning's "A Mi-Voix," currently housed at the Tate. It's quite large, rendered in muted tones. There is a sense of being suspended in time. What narratives do you see embedded in this work? Curator: The title translates to "In a Half-Voice", and it speaks to the position of women in Surrealism. Tanning often explored the blurred lines between reality and dream, and this painting seems to capture a moment of subdued but palpable tension. Do you notice the figures' ambiguous forms and ghostly presence? Editor: Yes, they almost seem to be fading away. Curator: Exactly. This ambiguity can be interpreted as a commentary on the fluidity of identity, particularly female identity, within patriarchal structures. It challenges viewers to consider the unspoken power dynamics at play. Editor: That’s a perspective I hadn’t considered. It adds a whole new layer to the work. Curator: By engaging with the art in this way, we’re also uncovering the complex layers of historical and social context. Editor: Thank you! I’ll keep this in mind in my further investigations.
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‘I just wanted to paint a white and grey picture that would still have colour in its veins as we have blood under our winter-white skin’, Tanning wrote of this work. Her engagement with surrealism began in the 1940s when she married Max Ernst. She has observed of herself: ‘as someone...who has chosen art, the making of it, the dedication to it, the breathing of it, this artist has pursued with a high heart that great aim; and has utterly failed to understand the pigeon-holing (or dove-coterie) of gender, convinced that it has nothing to do with qualifications or goals.’ Gallery label, October 2016
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