Girl at Piano 1973

Editor: "Girl at Piano", an acrylic painting by Will Barnet, dating back to 1973. There's something serene, almost melancholic about the composition; she seems so isolated within that yellow space. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: Isolated is an interesting word choice, and spot on, I think! To me, this painting feels like a half-remembered dream. Barnet strips everything down to these essential shapes, a language of flat planes really, right? That acid yellow background pushes the piano and the girl forward. Have you ever felt like a colour was physically pushing you? The overall effect is almost dreamlike in its simplicity but strangely unnerving at the same time. Is she actually *playing*? Or just lost in thought *with* the music? Editor: It's definitely not photorealistic, that's for sure! I’m curious about the choice of yellow. Does that contribute to the feeling you mentioned? Curator: Yellow is so loaded! Sunlight, caution, sickness...Here it is used as this suffocating backdrop. It flattens the space but also amplifies the quiet stillness, it feels less like watching and more like overhearing! Editor: Oh, like a secret, private moment. It’s interesting how color can shift the entire mood! Curator: Precisely! What seemed simply "serene" now becomes something far more intricate, don't you think? Barnet pulls you in. That is the point of painting: participation, observation and engagement, not passive viewership. Editor: I think I see what you mean. At first, I saw only the surface, but now there is this whole other depth I had not appreciated. Thank you! Curator: Indeed, isn’t art an invitation into seeing in multiple layers, and multiple perspectives? It is a mirror reflecting the multiplicity that is existence. A simple start.