Bird Noises 1963

Editor: Alan Davie's "Bird Noises" is such a vibrant, playful image. There's a real sense of joyful spontaneity in it. How do you interpret the symbolism within this lively composition? Curator: The birds, abstracted as they are, evoke a primal connection to nature and perhaps the subconscious. Note how the colours create a dialogue; the juxtaposition of the purple, almost cave-like structure, and the bright, almost childlike birds, speaks to a tension between the known and the unknown. The patterns remind us of memory itself, fragmented and reassembled. Editor: That's fascinating, I hadn't considered the cave-like structure as representative of the subconscious. Curator: What do those repeating shapes suggest to you? Look at how Davie uses these symbols to tap into something deeper. Editor: Now that you mention it, it is like a visual language. It does feel like a personal language! Curator: Exactly. We see how images carry emotional weight across time, echoing ancient visual communication, yet intensely personal. Editor: I'll definitely look at abstract art differently now, thinking about the subconscious and personal symbolism. Curator: Precisely. It invites us to decode and engage with the artist's inner world and our own.