Caja con Piano y Toro 1936

Oscar Dominguez made this curious object, "Caja con Piano y Toro," with paint and mixed media, and who knows when. The process is the point here: Dominguez sets up a scenario in a box, like a stage, and paints a backdrop with these dreamlike figures, a piano with wheels and a bull. The paint looks thin and washy, and the colors have that surrealist vibe. It's like a tiny world of the subconscious. The red of the box feels intense. And look at that little bull figurine down below, adding a touch of reality to the painted fantasy above. It reminds me a bit of Cornell’s boxes, but Dominguez brings his own strange and poetic vision to it, blending painting and sculpture, reality and dream. Ultimately, it’s all about the conversation between these mediums, constantly opening up new spaces for seeing and thinking.