Mavis 1991

Curator: There's something almost tragic about the tenderness in Piroska Szanto's "Mavis." The charcoal and pencil on paper, rendered in 1991, gives the birds an ephemeral, haunting quality. Editor: It's so immediate, isn't it? Like catching a glimpse of something fleeting and fragile. The sketch-like quality almost gives it the impression of motion, even though the subject suggests the opposite. Curator: Yes, the provisional line work certainly speaks of a fleeting observation. Looking closer, these aren’t simply studies of birds; they're studies of deceased birds. There’s a stillness, an absence of the vitality we associate with avian creatures. It brings up so many difficult ideas about life, loss, and perhaps the relationship between nature and mortality. Editor: Absolutely. Death is rarely far from Szanto’s reflections. I find myself thinking about how often our relationships to animals are bound by power dynamics—who gets to live, and who is relegated to the status of the observed or the consumed. There’s a political charge to this depiction that refuses to let us sentimentalize death without confronting its context. Curator: I agree, there’s no sugar-coating here. And yet, Szanto’s skill transforms something unsettling into something of austere beauty. I love the almost abstract quality of the wings in the lower part of the image. They look almost like waves, or abstracted plants—something entirely organic. It allows for a different kind of beauty and resilience amidst these heavier topics. Editor: Exactly. And the intentional crudeness of some marks reads as defiance. An assertion that even in death, these beings deserve our nuanced and perhaps uncomfortable considerations, rather than neat narratives. The use of a limited grayscale palette contributes, too. The austerity reflects a stripped-down reality. Curator: Well said! It’s difficult to look away, isn't it? There’s an undeniable invitation to contemplate these subjects, and that is something worthwhile in art, I feel. Editor: It is a sobering yet inspiring reminder to remain engaged with difficult topics—to confront the mortality we often try to ignore. And to ask questions rather than accept platitudes.