El Borok 

Curator: Ken Kelly’s "El Borok," an oil painting, masterfully depicts a historical, perhaps even mythical, battle scene. What catches your eye first? Editor: Chaos, beautiful chaos! It feels like staring into a sandstorm of fury, the kind you taste in your throat just looking at it. That fierce light…makes you wonder if it’s sunlight or some inner fire driving everyone mad. Curator: Indeed. The figures, emerging from the canvas, immediately evoke complex questions about the narratives surrounding power, identity, and representation of historical conflicts, right? How does the artist’s focus challenge or perpetuate cultural mythologies about warfare and heroism? Editor: Mmm, you got me thinking now. I mean, there's this muscle-bound dude with a sword leading the charge, right? Almost looks barbaric...yet the light kind of elevates him? Like he is embodying some primal force. Is he a hero? A tyrant? It depends who's telling the story, eh? Curator: Precisely! Analyzing the portrayal of masculinity in fantasy art is imperative, particularly how it intertwines with historical interpretations to legitimize actions through constructed heroic narratives. This leads us to question if Kelly's composition romanticizes conquest or critiques it? Editor: Okay, heavy thoughts for a Monday morning! For me it's really the technique... the colors all blend almost creating an optical illusion. Almost hazy—like memory fading and becoming legend. The specifics start to fall away but that feeling…the charge of energy...that remains. Curator: Ultimately, I think considering the role that genre plays in engaging audiences to re-evaluate these complex stories concerning identity, ideology, and power within both historical and contemporary contexts makes this such an important work. Editor: Absolutely. Maybe looking at paintings like these is our chance to consider who writes those histories— and maybe consider writing a different one for ourselves.