Untitled 1980

Editor: So, this is Eduardo Nery's "Untitled," made in 1980. It appears to be a photograph, or maybe even a C-print with watercolor or gouache. It has such a dreamy, surreal quality... like looking at a landscape through a clouded lens. What do you see in this piece? Curator: As a materialist, I’m drawn to how Nery subverts the expected relationship between photography and painting. He isn't simply representing a scene, but engaging with the material qualities of both mediums. Consider the labor involved: the meticulous layering of watercolor, possibly obscuring the initial photographic image. Are these processes in conflict, or conversation? Editor: That's interesting. I initially saw it as a serene, almost melancholic landscape. Curator: And what created that feeling for you? Was it the blurriness? The limitations imposed by the tools – photograph, watercolor? Perhaps it speaks to a consumerist culture of landscape as something purchased, intervened upon, obscured from reality. What is emphasized through these acts of material combination and obfuscation? Editor: I see your point! The “dreamy” quality isn't just aesthetic, it is related to production; maybe it's about questioning the way we consume images, particularly idealized landscapes. Curator: Exactly. It also begs us to reconsider what we define as high art versus something closer to a commercial or technical craft. Where do we locate value, and how does the artist direct us? Editor: Thinking about the materials and processes involved gives it a whole new dimension. I wouldn’t have considered that at first. Thanks! Curator: Precisely. Analyzing art through its making reveals powerful critiques of our culture of consumption.