BBC Focus Magazine – We Need to Talk About Male Suicide 2018

Curator: This watercolor and line painting from 2018 is by Owen Gent. It's called "BBC Focus Magazine – We Need to Talk About Male Suicide". It's immediately striking, wouldn't you say? Editor: It evokes a profound sense of entrapment and precariousness. The figure's posture, suspended amongst those converging lines, is unsettling. There's a visual tension that grabs you. Curator: Indeed. The figure, caught mid-air, is literally tied up within this network of red strings. The symbolism feels very explicit, doesn’t it? He's enveloped, ensnared… the red perhaps signifying distress or warning. Considering the artwork was commissioned to illustrate a magazine article, what are your thoughts on how it works as a piece of socially engaged imagery? Editor: The strings might well symbolize the complex pressures men face in contemporary society – societal expectations, emotional constraint, vulnerability, isolation. The choice of watercolor also resonates – it’s a medium known for its delicate washes and fluidity, but also for being rather unforgiving. Curator: I appreciate your interpretation of the materiality. The colour palette here, limited and muted, focuses attention squarely on the body and the stark geometry of the red lines. I would say it functions quite simply from the semiotic perspective; red means ‘danger,’ it is the artist’s sign for external constraint imposed on the vulnerable, central male subject. Editor: Agreed. But this central figure... anonymous, nearly faceless. He serves less as a particular individual, and more as an Everyman. This lends a universal quality, broadening the image’s potential impact within public discourse, in raising consciousness of a social problem. Curator: Precisely, it is more representative of male figures across different sectors of the population. His lack of clear features allows viewers to project themselves onto his predicament. A clever compositional technique that enhances engagement and dialogue. Editor: Looking at it this way, Owen Gent has created a particularly resonant image, one that compels a societal reckoning. The visual encoding really reinforces the conceptual and historical weight of its cultural commission, namely the discussion of men’s mental health. Curator: It’s a prime example of how formalism can underscore meaningful, and indeed vital social narratives.