Canonical Image 1979

Editor: So, here we have Oleksandr Aksinin’s “Canonical Image,” from 1979, created with mixed media. I am immediately struck by its oddness—it's abstract but there’s also something playful about it, even cartoonish. What do you make of it? Curator: Notice the artist’s use of contrasting colours. The dominant blues of the background are sharply juxtaposed with the reds and greens of the figure. This creates a visual tension, a certain unease despite the seemingly whimsical subject matter. What compositional elements draw your eye? Editor: Well, definitely the spools... the stacked, abstracted forms in the centre of the image. Curator: Precisely. And what about the way these forms relate to the linear elements behind them? Consider the deliberate flattening of space, characteristic of much early Soviet non-conformist art. Aksinin seems to be engaging with and subverting conventional perspective. He uses it to make a point about the way meaning is produced. How does the surface texture inform this, in your opinion? Editor: I see what you mean. It's almost like he's mocking traditional artistic conventions, the flatness contributing to this effect. The layered media creates texture and resists any illusion of depth. Curator: Indeed. By calling the piece "Canonical Image," Aksinin is perhaps questioning the very notion of artistic authority and established norms. Notice that pop-art elements are visible but also used ironically. The artist creates an artwork and an anti-artwork simultaneously. It's about the way the painting subverts any established framework or context. Editor: I didn’t pick up on that. It makes the title far more ironic. Thanks, I’ll never look at spools in the same way. Curator: An intriguing synthesis of the serious and the absurd, wouldn't you agree? It gives us plenty to consider.