Suns on an orange background 

Curator: Ah, "Suns on an orange background." I am immediately drawn to its unexpected, almost cartoonish character. Editor: Indeed. It exemplifies, with surprising economy, aspects of Fernand Léger's later engagement with popular aesthetics. Curator: Economy, yes, I would suggest that that reduction exposes elemental tensions. The juxtaposition of curving, biomorphic shapes alongside rigid geometric lines generates a palpable visual discordance, don’t you think? Editor: Discordance...or perhaps a playful, even buoyant, integration. For me, the flatness of the background acts like a stage for the objects depicted. It's Pop, but with an undercurrent of something almost ancient. Curator: Interesting! Your reaction leads us into the core questions concerning Léger's exploration of surface and depth. The way he defines these sunflowers is quite ingenious, and their shadows are barely there; and so it leads me to wonder about his approach here. Is he interested in flattening forms to foreground a distinct symbolic language? Editor: Definitely symbols, like simplified hieroglyphs but, also, that orange! Such an aggressively happy orange. Maybe, in some way, the orange gives me some pause to reflect. I start to consider my childhood in suburbia... with each glance, these feelings surface! And the flowers, though geometric, do still push out—there is such dimension. Curator: Precisely, it has the quality of relief. And one could easily apply elements of structuralism. If you separate elements from each other the semiotics become more explicit—the signifiers detach, and new relations emerge, creating alternate possible realities. Editor: So in this abstract construction the semiotic tension—in some way—gives way to self expression. Curator: Concur. It serves as a testament to the transformative power that the symbolic, abstract form contains. Editor: Right. There's something wonderfully disarming about how something so conceptually rigorous could spark such a raw and free flowing sense of reverie.