Basket Of Clandestine Passion 2017

Michael Cheval made this painting, “Basket of Clandestine Passion”, and right away, you notice the classical style, but with this really oddball, surrealist twist. It's like a stage set for some strange, dreamlike play. The painting has this smooth, almost polished surface, which gives it a very formal feel, but then you have these bizarre elements. Look at the guy running with a watermelon – a WATERMELON! – tucked under his arm. It's so out of place, and yet, it completely makes the painting. The texture of the hanging cloths, those whites against the blue sky, really speaks to the material, almost theatrical, quality of the scene. It reminds me a bit of Magritte, with the way he takes ordinary things and puts them in completely unexpected situations. And like Magritte, Cheval invites us to question our own assumptions about reality and meaning. The basket, the watermelon, the chickens – are they symbols, or just…there? Maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe the point is just the delightful absurdity of it all.