The Somnambulists 2010

Bo Bartlett made this oil painting called The Somnambulists, and it’s like stepping into a dream within a dream. The surface is smooth, almost slick, and the figures emerge with soft edges as if coming into focus. You get a sense of quiet tension, like you're not quite sure what's real. The woman on the left looks straight out at us, drawing us into this intimate, slightly surreal scene. The light in this painting has a strange, almost eerie quality, and falls across the figures, lending them a sculptural presence. There is a film camera, an ax, and two women in repose. I can imagine Bartlett, brush in hand, thinking about how to create a space that feels both familiar and unsettling. It reminds me of some of Philip Guston’s later works, where everyday objects take on a new weight and meaning. The setting seems like a movie set, but could also be a dreamscape that invites reflection on voyeurism and spectatorship.