American Archer 2001

Curator: This is Dan Christensen's "American Archer," an acrylic on canvas created in 2001. Editor: Immediately I'm struck by the gestural strokes. There's such a thick application of white paint, it gives real texture against that softer salmon background. It almost feels sculptural. Curator: That physicality is a key part of Christensen’s abstract expressionist approach, developed in a later phase of the movement. He pushes past pure visuality and incorporates materiality, reflecting a broader trend toward valuing process in artmaking that took place later in the century. It represents the move away from a clean image to embracing production in all its tactility. Editor: And it definitely speaks to the labor involved. Look at how the lines and dabs are interwoven. You see how some strokes seem almost frantic, with that wonderful drip near what would be the bottom left, and yet it's also balanced and deliberate. Curator: Yes, there's a tension there. Although Christensen is working within the canon of Abstract Expressionism, he's consciously manipulating its codes and injecting fresh energy. In some ways the image reflects America at that moment, posturing and projecting. Editor: I see your point. Given the title, it evokes an arrow’s release. A build up to a sudden expression of movement, which makes me think of production lines or consumer goods. He seems to focus not on the what, but how items or even feelings move in and out of production. Curator: Exactly. Considering the materials, and that raw almost brutish application, its making suggests American action in the 21st century, with all of its cultural complexity laid bare for examination. Editor: Fascinating! Thinking about the material reality of its construction really shapes how you interpret the work's political resonance. Curator: Indeed, this piece makes us reconsider the relationship between art, history, and the materials that bring them into being. Editor: A final brush stroke to make us think, beautifully aggressive I would say.