River 1997

Curator: Standing before us is Keith Milow's large-scale work, simply titled "River," housed here at the Tate. The support measures an impressive 1827 by 3654 millimeters. Editor: My first thought is that it's both digital and ancient. The dots remind me of pixels, but the overall feel has a mosaic quality, like something from a forgotten civilization. Curator: Exactly! Milow often plays with paradoxes like that. It is simultaneously very ordered yet evokes the organic chaos of a natural waterway. Think about the interplay of positive and negative space. Editor: The rigid grid fighting to contain that upper, more fluid section. But the lower portion also intrigues me—the geometry seems to want to ground the "river," to provide some kind of structure. Curator: Perhaps it’s the banks containing it, or the delta giving way to the sea. Milow leaves it open to interpretation. And the materiality—it’s neither painting nor sculpture precisely. Editor: It dances on the edge of both. It's a fascinating exploration of boundaries, both physical and conceptual, provoking a reevaluation of what art can be. Curator: Indeed, a testament to how an artist can bridge worlds through form and metaphor.