Goya's Lover 1977

Curator: This work by Walasse Ting, painted in 1977, is called "Goya's Lover". It’s an acrylic on canvas, awash in vibrant color. What are your first thoughts? Editor: Chaos, frankly! But a beautifully orchestrated chaos. I’m struck by the layering and the almost frantic application of the acrylic. It looks thick, even sculptural in places. Curator: It's a kind of organized frenzy, isn't it? Ting layers figuration and abstraction—note the reclining nude, but also the vibrant blooms in the background. He’s really pushing against any sense of traditional representation. There's an incredible freedom in his gesture. Editor: Absolutely. And "Goya's Lover"—I wonder if that's less about romantic connection, and more about riffing on art history? I mean, Goya's "Naked Maja" comes to mind, but stripped bare of any academic pretense. This is a reinterpretation that feels completely of its time, more accessible due to use of a more commercial substance than oil on canvas. Curator: A wonderful point. And consider the way Ting uses the acrylic paint itself. It's dripped, splattered, almost like graffiti, and also consider that delightful kitty laying right beside her on the canvas. He disrupts high and low culture, challenging the preciousness often associated with the nude and reclining figure. Editor: Exactly! He is pushing boundaries. By embracing a commercial material like acrylic paint, by splattering and dripping the media to give the canvas that textured feeling, he's almost democratizing the art making process, right? Making it seem immediate and less reliant on established artistic skill, almost anyone can splatter paint, which democratizes its process and opens interpretation for those looking at the piece. Curator: Precisely! There's a playful rebellion at work. But behind that immediacy lies a genuine tenderness for his subject, doesn't it? Editor: I think so. There's a real tension between the seeming careless application of the acrylic and this incredibly vivid, lively, sensuous feeling to the work overall. A delightful tension, actually. Curator: A tension that stays with you long after you've moved on. Thank you for the discussion! Editor: Thank you! A really intriguing painting.