mémoires oniriques du vallée Bleue 2014

Curator: We are looking at Carlos Sablón's "Mémoires Oniriques du Vallée Bleue," completed in 2014. It's an acrylic painting that presents a striking, dreamlike composition. Editor: Immediately, I’m struck by the subject—an imposing horse, gazing back at us with an adornment above its eye. The lighting feels almost theatrical, lending it an air of mystery and slight unease. Curator: Absolutely. The piece adheres to realistic principles while also introducing surrealist elements. Note the horse's musculature, meticulously rendered, against a background suggesting landscape. But observe, also, how its dark mane seemingly blends into a vista, and its eye glitters behind ornate filigree. Editor: The application of jewelry to the horse challenges classical notions of representation. This horse isn't just any animal, is it? One might argue that this rendering suggests an understanding of the animal gaze in modern visual culture. Is it merely decorative or symbolic? Curator: I appreciate how the painting exists within formal dichotomies. We have a foreground that foregrounds the horse itself in portrait style while including a soft, idyllic landscape in the background. I am drawn to its texture. What is it like to perceive? How does a surreal image become a mirror for cultural reflection? Editor: It does offer many potential pathways. The choice to drape jewelry over the horse reads as more than mere embellishment, it implies power. I consider the animal's history of serving as a symbol of freedom, status, and strength. By adorning the animal with what appears as the wealth of a society, the image brings those historical readings to a halt, replacing them with a need to reassess and reinterpret these loaded meanings. Curator: I agree that this is where its strength lies, creating an unsettling interplay between representation and subversion through the surreal juxtaposition. Thank you for providing some important considerations and critical lenses. Editor: It's work that seems deceptively simple on the surface but yields complex interpretive returns when seen through many prisms. Thank you.