The all devouring bird and the serpent of the earth 1955

Editor: So, here we have Jan Cox's 1955 oil painting, "The All Devouring Bird and the Serpent of the Earth." It strikes me as rather unsettling. The dark bird-like figure looming over the winding serpent feels almost ominous. What do you make of it? Curator: Ominous, yes, but isn't it also compelling? Like a vivid nightmare or a deeply buried primal fear surfacing. It makes me wonder, what does “all-devouring” even mean? Does it reference the anxieties of the post-war period, perhaps? Or maybe personal demons he battled with inside? I imagine it a lot, actually, while lost in music, during a walk on the beach. What thoughts surfaced from its shapes for you? Editor: That idea of surfacing primal fears resonates. The abstract expressionist style, with those bold shapes and earthy tones, only adds to the unsettling atmosphere. It’s almost mythological. Curator: Mythological, exactly! It echoes creation myths and struggles for dominance, a bird versus serpent kind of story. And notice that the “devouring” is active: what nourishes us can also suffocate. I see echoes of Jungian archetypes, universal symbols residing in the collective unconscious. Editor: So, it is like he is touching on something incredibly ancient within us, this painting… Curator: Perhaps! Or within himself, tapping into feelings that speak to a broader human experience. It feels less constructed, somehow, more discovered, wouldn’t you agree? It’s as if the painting found *him*, almost a premonition realized in pigment. The more that I am confronted with artwork, the more I tend to simply admire them and to find a certain inner meaning to the experience I perceive in my reality, and I always look at it from many points of view. Editor: I never thought of it like that – the painting finding the artist. It really shifts my perspective! This abstract dance between dark figures creates more emotions in me now. Curator: See, art is alive and constantly talks with you. It breathes. Hopefully more people will consider that.