Untitled (Skull) 1981

Curator: Standing before us is an etching from 1981, its title simply listed as "Untitled (Skull)" by Miguel Cervantes. It’s an intaglio print, rendered in stark monochrome. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: Ominous. The stark contrast and the somewhat blurred lines give it a dreamlike quality, like a memory fading. There’s a powerful symbolism at play here, beyond just the representation of death. Curator: Absolutely. Skulls have, throughout art history, served as vanitas symbols—memento mori. They prompt contemplation on the ephemeral nature of existence. Given the time, the early '80s, this piece surely echoes the anxieties around the AIDS crisis that was beginning to explode. What social anxieties might be expressed through a skull, and how does the abstraction emphasize the fears of the time? Editor: You can read so much into the visual history of the skull; it spans eras and cultures. For some it may be a connection to ancestors. I notice the etching technique; it is scratchy, immediate—the artistic intention feels more raw than refined. This reinforces the primal quality, evoking a sense of mortality that transcends any single cultural narrative. Curator: Cervantes made an intentional choice there. Looking through a contemporary lens, could this skull, presented so starkly, speak to political or social structures that perpetuate cycles of death, of dispossession, of forced disappearances? Does it stand as a denouncement of oppressive systems, by reflecting violence both immediate and systemic? Editor: Perhaps. Though symbols often operate on multiple levels simultaneously, there's power in their ambiguity. We interpret, through our personal context and social milieu. I tend to lean toward understanding a core truth, not always anchored to such direct references. Curator: I see. Ultimately, the artist gives us this stark, evocative image and invites our interpretations. We meet the artwork, and hopefully ourselves, somewhere in the middle. Editor: Yes, exactly. I leave this image today thinking about how consistent human symbolism has been through art, and this reminds us how the present is forever intertwined with echoes from our past.