Blueberries 2020

Curator: Let's turn our attention to Valeria Duca's "Blueberries" painted in 2020. It’s an oil on canvas rendered in the Realist style. Editor: Wow, it's intense. There's something slightly unsettling about the figure covered with berries. A really interesting combination of vulnerability and almost playful decadence. Curator: It really challenges traditional portraiture, doesn’t it? Think about the history of portraiture as an emblem of status or ideal beauty, and consider how Duca upends those conventions. The woman’s direct gaze challenges the viewer. The blueberries might act as symbols of female sexuality and fertility, but here they obstruct and almost suffocate the model. The model is consumed by the weight and gaze, much like women in a patriarchal society. Editor: I appreciate that perspective. To add to your point, one might even say Duca is questioning the fetishization of the female body and critiquing this expectation by confronting viewers with what seems to be both an object and subject, creating a dialogue that is complex and thought-provoking. There is an interesting tension happening here: a female figure reclaiming their bodies by consuming. Curator: The "genre painting" theme adds another layer. Genre paintings often depict scenes of everyday life, and while there is nothing “ordinary” in this painting, Duca grounds us in the everyday, by referencing intimate spheres like domesticity, and turning this familiarity into a spectacle. Also note how the striped blue fabric creates a striking pattern, simultaneously comforting and chaotic. This also calls to the popular female fashion, particularly with pajamas and other lazy lounge garments during the year it was produced—a period marked with lockdown and reflection. Editor: That's an astute point about the fabrics and pattern; and a powerful reflection of female subjectivity within a particular moment in time. Seeing it from this point, there’s an inescapable sense of cultural and societal pressure that manifests within this visual vocabulary, creating a piece that reflects our collective anxieties and self-expressions. Curator: It’s an artwork that invites dialogue and begs us to consider not only art's place in society but also the individual’s experience within that context. Editor: Absolutely. A piece that resonates deeply in a space where we are invited to reconsider everything around us.