Blue/Silver Lambs 1978

Curator: Piroska Szanto's mixed media painting, "Blue/Silver Lambs" from 1978, presents us with a somewhat unusual artistic rendering. What is your immediate reaction to this image? Editor: A rather somber mood pervades, wouldn't you say? The layering of ghostly sheep heads against the teal backdrop, speckled with white, evokes a sense of dreamlike uncertainty or even quiet unease. What do you make of the chosen materials and how the work was executed? Curator: Well, if we delve into her artistic process, we note a blend of painting techniques, watercolor washes, and seemingly intentional textural interferences, like the white speckling—perhaps to abstract and add to the work. This mixed approach really challenges a traditional reading. There's a real material awareness in the layers she builds. It resists the high-art polish, and that feels significant. Editor: Precisely. It leads me to wonder about the symbology. Lambs, of course, carry strong associations with innocence, sacrifice, and perhaps vulnerability, rooted deeply in Western art history. Their ghostly presence makes me question the security of those symbols. Is she playing with those ingrained ideas, subverting expectations? Curator: Absolutely, consider the time it was created: 1978. The cultural context hints at a post-war disillusionment influencing the consumption and production of images. We’re also looking at this interplay between artistic media challenging high art perceptions. Editor: An insightful angle. It speaks to the evolution, or even the interrogation, of collective memory through symbols. We assume we know the symbolism but, as you said, with these unusual material handling, perhaps the work questions if those understandings are inherently static. Curator: Yes, and it makes me think about craft's shifting value at the time and the changing role of artistic labor. I see the lamb imagery as less of a traditional reference and more as material to deconstruct expectations within the system of image creation. Editor: A potent re-evaluation! For me, the lasting impression involves pondering the cultural load our familiar symbols carry and considering their place in representing communal ideals over time. Curator: And for me, this artwork highlights the artist's critical understanding of the medium's social meaning during production itself and consumption afterwards, far more interesting than a mere representational image.