Contemplation 

Editor: Here we have "Contemplation," a mixed-media piece by Alex Gross. The young woman with her cool drink gives the whole scene an air of modern… ennui, maybe? So, I guess my question is, what’s your read on why the artist juxtaposes that super consumerist vibe with, well, everything else? Curator: Ah, yes, "Contemplation." It strikes me as a very self-aware reflection on modern life. I like to imagine Gross is asking: isn’t there something unsettlingly dreamlike about our everyday existence? Look at that desolate, almost post-apocalyptic landscape barely visible through the haze and pastel orbs. Then there’s the juxtaposition of the woman’s youth, beauty and that...Is that a skull motif in her sugary drink? What do *you* make of that detail? Editor: I guess it’s this really dark thing hiding inside something so…basic. The flowers, the bubbly colors floating all around her… even her polished nails and her icy wristband and that cup are almost cute, but then… Curator: Exactly! Gross is pointing to the contradictions, maybe even the decay, lurking beneath our manufactured realities. It reminds me of the memento mori tradition in art, these visual reminders of our mortality. I imagine Gross, in his sardonic way, saying "Enjoy your sugary, fleeting existence, darling; death is, inevitably, the ultimate shareholder." Don’t you think there is an element of this dark humour here? Editor: It’s totally that! Seeing it that way—this dark wink from the artist, or…death—makes the whole piece feel way more pointed. Curator: Isn't it interesting how a contemporary piece can be in dialogue with art from centuries ago? Always something to ponder, wouldn’t you agree?