Stable 1935 - 1942

Curator: Standing before us is "Stable", a watercolor and ink drawing completed by Perkins Harnly between 1935 and 1942. It depicts the interior of what appears to be a meticulously maintained stable. Editor: It has a somewhat eerie serenity to it. It’s orderly, yes, but feels uninhabited, almost ghostly with the cool blues and browns of the materials rendered in great detail. Curator: Absolutely, and I think that tension between order and absence is key. Harnly, in his body of work, frequently revisited themes of domesticity and interior spaces, and one lens through which to examine his oeuvre, "Stable" included, might be through the theoretical discourse surrounding labor and gender. The immaculate condition, the specialized tools all lined up… Editor: Those implements, though! Shovels, saddles, grooming brushes, even the ornate metalwork – they all speak to a specific type of equestrian culture. The semi-circular design on those stable doors, it’s not just decorative. We find such designs repeated for centuries—think of medieval tapestries depicting hunts—to underscore the elite social status of the patrons. Curator: Precisely. I'd argue that this space becomes a stage upon which historical power dynamics are implicitly negotiated. What’s interesting is the conspicuous absence of living subjects, either human or animal. Where does that leave the social order in the picture, so to speak? The trappings of equestrian sport—the lifestyle, the pageantry—all without its core participants... Editor: Is this space waiting or abandoned, ready for work or emptied of life? Curator: An apt paradox with which to close. Editor: Indeed; the symbolic language suggests the structure is alive, yet its coldness denies us.