Broadway and 7th Avenue Local 1989

Curator: Jock McFadyen's "Broadway and 7th Avenue Local" presents us with a stark, intimate portrait, steeped in urban reality. The surface is around 122 by 81 centimeters, a size that commands attention. What’s your first take? Editor: It feels like a heavy weariness, a palpable sense of exhaustion etched onto the face and rendered through the thick application of paint. Curator: The title situates us on the New York subway, immediately bringing up issues of class, labor, and the everyday struggle of urban life. This is not a neutral depiction; it's charged with social commentary. Editor: Definitely. The materials themselves – the impasto brushstrokes, the visible layering – speak to a process of building up not just an image, but also a feeling of density and pressure. The paint becomes a kind of skin. Curator: And notice the subject’s gaze, averted, tired. It evokes questions about visibility, invisibility, and the power dynamics inherent in representation. Who is being seen, and who is doing the seeing? Editor: It’s fascinating how McFadyen’s technique reinforces these themes. The coarseness of the paint mimics the grit of the city, the literal labor mirroring the unseen labor of the subway rider. Curator: The painting provides a window into a specific time and place but resonates with universal themes of alienation and resilience. Editor: Absolutely, seeing the material and the social so intertwined offers a new way of appreciating its power. Curator: A powerful reminder that art is never separate from the socio-political fabric in which it’s created and consumed. Editor: Yes, a testament to how material choices can be profoundly political.