Coast of Ithaca 1896

Curator: Robert David Gauley's "Coast of Ithaca" offers us a serene view in watercolor. What captures your eye first? Editor: The stark division between the intense blue of the sea and the pastel, almost dreamlike, rendering of the land. It’s as if there are two realities coexisting, but not quite touching. Curator: Indeed. Ithaca, of course, is steeped in mythology, in the longing for home and the struggle to return. Do you think Gauley’s choice of these ethereal colors softens that narrative? Editor: Perhaps. Or it hints at the unreality of the heroic narrative itself. Think about the violence inherent in the Odyssey and its justifications of power. The pastel washes seem to question that authority. Curator: It's a beautiful, deceptive tranquility, isn't it? Editor: Absolutely, one that invites us to consider the complexities beneath the surface of well-worn stories. Curator: That tension is powerful, forcing us to confront idealized notions of homecoming with a more critical perspective. Editor: Precisely. Art, at its best, makes us rethink what we thought we already knew.