Reservation 1979

Curator: Gebre Kristos Desta's "Reservation," created in 1979 using oil paint, presents a striking study in the emotive possibilities of form and color. Editor: Whoa, intense vibes right off the bat! It feels like peering into a dream—a stormy one. The heavy blues and blacks sort of swallow you. It has a shadowy face, and then some kind of alien orb offering on its hands or stomach, as if it has been impregnated... Curator: Yes, the chromatic scale employed leans heavily on cool tones, primarily blues and blacks, creating a sense of somber introspection. Notice the deliberate brushstrokes; they aren’t merely representational but rather constructive, layering the canvas to achieve a multi-dimensional, almost sculptural, effect. Editor: Definitely sculptural—like the paint's fighting to escape the canvas. And this figure—is it human? Alien? Ghost? It’s as if Desta wanted to capture a feeling more than a specific being, all shadowed by internal anxiety, as if you are looking at something and have been caught in the act! Curator: The abstraction certainly contributes to its enigmatic quality. While appearing to depict a figure, the distortion and fragmentation push it beyond conventional portraiture. The work oscillates between figuration and pure abstract expressionism. There’s a visible tension in this play, reflecting Desta’s negotiation of identity and belonging, common in his larger body of work. Editor: Identity is such a slippery thing, right? Like, who are we REALLY? Desta's got me wondering if we're all just "reservations" waiting to be claimed—by love, by purpose, or maybe just by oblivion. Spooky... Curator: Indeed, it encapsulates the human condition, the inherent ambiguities, through its aesthetic form. We can observe and deconstruct, analyze and theorize, yet the core essence remains evocative and, arguably, unfixed. Editor: Still, I think something I have caught on about is it reminds me we are all puzzles with missing pieces. So dark, but fascinating too!