Stepney Green 1983

Curator: Barry Flanagan's etching, "Stepney Green," presents us with a deceptively simple scene. It feels almost like a quick sketch, doesn’t it? Editor: It does have that immediate, off-the-cuff quality. The spartan lines sketching out a horse, a dog, and a man certainly evoke a feeling of spontaneity. Curator: Absolutely. It's interesting to consider the work within the context of Stepney Green itself, a historically working-class area of London. Flanagan is engaging with the idea of the pastoral— Editor: But in a way that's infused with the realities of urban life? There's a certain tension in the juxtaposition of these almost archaic figures within that setting. It seems to speak to broader anxieties about class and identity. Curator: Precisely. And it makes us reflect on how spaces shift and evolve, retaining traces of their past even as they change. Editor: It’s a deceptively thought-provoking piece, once you begin unpacking it. Curator: Indeed, it invites us to look beyond the surface and question the narratives we construct around place and belonging.