Relief c. 1915 - 1916

Curator: What strikes me immediately about Iwan Puni's "Relief," currently held at the Tate, is its rather somber mood given the playful arrangement of shapes. Editor: The materiality of the found objects really speaks to a moment of resource scarcity, perhaps a post-war reflection on consumption and repurposing, don't you think? Curator: Perhaps, but the jutting angles and bold colors – that cobalt semicircle particularly – feel defiant, almost like a child asserting joy amidst the scraps of a broken world. Editor: Interesting take! It's easy to look at the construction itself – how Puni affixed these disparate elements – and see a commentary on labor, the physical act of making as a statement itself. Curator: For me it’s as if each shape is a fragment of a memory, pieced together to create a whole that is both familiar and utterly strange. Editor: Well, I'm leaving here today with a reinforced appreciation for the art and how it challenges the boundaries between "art" and "craft." Curator: And I with a renewed belief in the power of art to find beauty in the broken.