Peg Top 2007

Curator: This is Arsen Savadov’s painting, "Peg Top," created in 2007. Quite the scene laid out in oil, wouldn’t you say? What strikes you initially? Editor: Utter chaos! A fever dream rendered in pigment. But also, this distinct foreground/background division – almost feels like a collage of separate realities crammed together. Curator: Exactly! Savadov often blends folklore with this sort of grotesque eroticism. Notice the details in the foreground—figures that could be lifted straight out of a Hieronymus Bosch nightmare... What’s your take on this kind of melding of traditions? Editor: From a materialist perspective, it’s fascinating to see folk art traditions used to critique... what, exactly? High art? Consumer culture? The vibrant 'Prix' banner looming in the background feels like a distorted advertisement. I'm curious about the cost of Savadov’s oil paints – and who ultimately buys this art and its message. Curator: Ah, the eternal question of consumption. I find the toothy grin framing the landscape more dreamlike than menacing. Maybe it’s just my own associations at play. Editor: The use of oil paint contributes so much, doesn't it? To render such absurd images – from bunnies to that ominous spinning top – bestows it a sense of historical importance or gravity, don't you think? Think about all the hands involved in sourcing, processing, and then actually working this material onto the canvas! Curator: Perhaps. Or perhaps it’s that disconnect—taking something supposedly sacred, the "high art" oil painting, and then presenting this... oddity. I see the broken records in the foreground, and that makes me think about history and how we literally break, reshape, repurpose, and reinterpret the past to mean new things. What stories can we spin with these shards of art? Editor: Absolutely, this connects the grand traditions of painting to the granular history of labor, waste and cultural production. I like that question too, and feel a little bit inspired! Curator: Precisely, isn't it marvelous? Now you’ve got me thinking… Let’s delve into another painting and repeat this again soon!