Nassau 

Editor: Today, we’re looking at "Nassau", an oil painting by Edwin Georgi. I am immediately struck by the drama – a woman firing a gun! What is your initial reaction to the formal elements here? Curator: The dynamism is immediately apparent. Note how the composition directs the viewer's eye: the sharp horizontal of the gun barrel is counterpointed by the diagonals of the woman’s plaid dress, creating a tension. The monochromatic color scheme of the subjects and neutral ground really makes that orange streak of gunfire pop! It's quite jarring. How does this distribution of line and color impact the image? Editor: Well, the use of diagonals definitely creates a sense of unease, almost as if everything is off balance. The color really intensifies the focal point. So, would you say the formal choices amplify the overall sense of conflict depicted? Curator: Precisely. The very construction of the image is geared towards eliciting a response to a clear action; observe how the artist manipulated our perceptions. What about the light in this scene? Editor: It's stark. Everyone and everything is evenly lit, right? Is this maybe making the moment seem… staged? Curator: Perhaps the staging emphasizes artifice. The subjects appear theatrically posed almost like figures on a set; as such, the painting becomes a meditation on pictorial space and composition. But what exactly might Georgi be after, here? Editor: It sounds like Georgi wants us to examine the act of looking, the staging that an artwork can set in motion. Thank you. Curator: Thank you. Paying attention to the composition really sharpened my insight on what could make a work like this successful!