Big Red 

Curator: Oh, hello! Let's spend a couple of minutes contemplating Scott Fraser's "Big Red," a still life painted with oil. What do you see first? Editor: That is a luscious tomato. I’m struck by how alive it feels! It has a certain, soft ripeness. Is it just me, or does that vibrant redness have a quiet strength? Curator: I'm glad you picked up on that quiet strength because Fraser plays with the conventions of still life here. Usually, still life depicts objects stripped of their everyday functions, transforming them into symbolic representations. However, there is something intensely, perhaps defiantly, real about this particular tomato. Editor: Yes, and perhaps that's why it resonates. We live in times where real food, the slow cultivation and savoring of the seasons, can seem almost radical. It certainly begs questions of food access, doesn’t it? This simple painting opens up dialogue about socio-economic systems. Curator: I absolutely love that reading of it! But on a formal level, notice the artist’s embrace of realism and classical forms of paintings. The light, the way the color gently graduates from the core, has echoes of 17th-century masters. I think Fraser enjoys drawing parallels between high art and the simple joys in life. Editor: But what about the slightly bruised looking parts up around the stem? Do they symbolize aging or decay, a subtle commentary on time's passage? Curator: Perhaps! Or they're just indications of what happens when one lives in a world outside of perfection and image. Ultimately, these touches are there to remind us to find the beauty even within the perceived imperfections of this very ordinary thing, such as, perhaps, the single tomato. Editor: Indeed, I am taking away that a humble still life might really reflect radical hope in today's landscape. Thank you, Scott Fraser! Curator: And it just proves that sometimes, the simplest image sparks the biggest conversations. Thanks for joining me.