Rain 2 

Curator: Look at this drawing, "Rain 2," by Julie Bell. It’s a portrait of a wolf, meticulously rendered in graphite and charcoal. What strikes you first? Editor: Immediately, it's the texture! The fur seems almost touchable. There's incredible detail in the way the artist uses shading to create depth, which is critical for naturalistic representations. Curator: Yes, and notice how that detail serves to both individualize the animal, and speak to broader ideas. How is the wolf employed culturally, or in common understandings? What associations come up for you? Editor: Well, depending on the socio-political and cultural framework, the wolf carries multiple, often contradictory meanings, from wilderness and freedom to predatory threat. The artist employs realist strategies here, however. The title, “Rain 2,” almost pushes it to another angle of the socio-political conversation. Could there be a connection to climate or a crisis within it? Curator: Perhaps. Considering the labor that went into creating such a realistic drawing, using the materials of graphite and charcoal, which come from the earth, could you argue that "Rain 2" shows the work involved to realistically reproduce this wild figure, using natural tools? Editor: That's an interesting perspective. One could extend this by considering how Julie Bell makes her living off such imagery. Who consumes her artwork? Are the themes she represents changed to reach a wider audience? What assumptions, what worldviews, is she catering to? Curator: Precisely. By selling her art, Bell herself is caught in a system of production. Maybe one of the aims is to subvert established canons by working on the fine line that connects 'high' art to commissions. She makes available these drawings, in a certain way, to make some statements about craft itself, by embracing mass consumerism. Editor: Food for thought! This careful drawing pushes us to confront some very deep considerations about making an art in our times. Curator: Indeed. It's an artwork that appears straightforward on the surface but opens onto complex material and historical considerations.