Quattro ovali bianchi 2009

Editor: We're looking at Turi Simeti's "Quattro ovali bianchi" from 2009, a mixed-media piece that looks like a pristine white relief. It’s incredibly subtle, almost meditative. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Considering Simeti’s engagement with Minimalism, I’m drawn to the material construction. We must look at how the oval forms are actually created. Is it additive, subtractive? Are these built-up layers or carved forms? That process informs its meaning. The labor is evident even in its austere simplicity. Editor: So you’re saying that the way it was made is crucial to understanding it, even more than, say, what it might represent? Curator: Precisely. Think about the context: Simeti began this kind of work in the 1960s, when artists were dismantling traditional notions of painting and sculpture. What does it mean to call this painting versus sculpture, and why would that matter? The materials and how Simeti manipulates them blur those boundaries, challenging our notions of art production itself. It shifts the focus from representation to presence. Editor: That makes me wonder about the social context too. Was this kind of geometric abstraction a reaction to something in society? Curator: Absolutely. Many artists at the time questioned the rampant consumerism of the post-war era. Minimalism, in its starkness, became a kind of antidote, a rejection of superfluous decoration. So, Simeti’s "Quattro ovali bianchi" engages in that critique. How it’s made, what it’s made of, and why—it's all intertwined with its historical moment. Editor: I see. I never thought about minimalism as a commentary on consumerism. Curator: Examining the labour of production gives us this perspective. Editor: That really gives me a new perspective on minimalist art! It's more than just simple shapes; it's a statement about materiality and the world around us. Curator: And by paying attention to the means of making, we also honor that material labor and question high art's privileging of purely intellectual labor.