Untitled 1965

Curator: Mira Schendel created this “Untitled” piece in 1965, using mixed media. I understand it’s categorized within abstract expressionism and what’s been termed “matter painting.” Editor: It feels primal somehow, like gazing upon the surface of an ancient object—almost a feeling of earthly origins. It makes me wonder about the narratives it obscures. Curator: Precisely. I'm intrigued by the notion that Schendel, working within a very specific cultural context of post-war Brazil, taps into universal anxieties around material decay. Look at the textured surfaces; it isn't simply abstract. She actively engages with materiality itself. I'm tempted to call them hieroglyphs, in the way that the shapes invite a process of meditative inscription. Editor: What interests me is its deliberate ambiguity. Does the seeming "decay" resist neat, modern narratives of progress which shaped globalism, or even reveal an allegory related to authoritarian rule? What if these organic shapes symbolize not purity but contaminated landscapes? It provokes questions of agency, environmental responsibility, and how we reckon with legacies of control. Curator: Absolutely. In this case, that perspective reframes Schendel's piece beyond pure abstraction; it's now situated within Brazil’s socio-political fabric. However, I return to my interest in the piece as a visual embodiment of archetypes related to transformation and transience—of life emerging from chaos. Consider the historical weight attributed to earthly materials across different cultures: the symbolism of earth as a source of life. Editor: True, these kinds of organic abstract gestures have been interpreted through various historical lenses. In terms of thinking about contemporary relevance, though, how might we see her materials and her process as an opportunity for reflection in terms of identity politics today, given our obsession with categorization and social anxiety? Curator: Perhaps it provides a means of thinking about individual transformation, of being able to "wear away" the superficial constraints society creates. A kind of shedding process. Editor: Maybe through the piece’s mutability it inspires new paradigms outside constricting boxes, reflecting current social urgencies towards decolonizing our inherited belief systems. Curator: I agree; it certainly encourages a continued reimagining of not only our histories, but also our present condition. Editor: Indeed. A simple, seemingly abstract artwork like this offers vast avenues of critical examination.