Myrina 1995

Curator: Here we have Piero Dorazio's "Myrina," created in 1995. What strikes you about it? Editor: It’s like looking into a colorful tunnel, an endless geometric regression towards some brightly lit center. The use of the dark background emphasizes this sensation. Curator: Dorazio, throughout his career, focused intensely on the properties and possibilities of color and line. His artistic process was meticulously planned, employing a method he likened to weaving. It is also evocative of printmaking in its geometric precision. Editor: That's fascinating! Seeing the rigid lines I thought the opposite, that a machine created it. This really raises questions about what we consider "fine art" versus something crafted. Was Dorazio deliberately challenging those boundaries? Curator: He certainly pushed them. The socio-political context of abstraction at that time positioned non-representational art as potentially democratic. Available and interpretable regardless of social position. Dorazio even had a prominent presence at the Venice Biennale. How do you see it engaging the public? Editor: Its bold palette immediately grabs attention and those receding lines certainly provoke an emotional response. I find it almost hypnotic; It could easily captivate an audience from many different backgrounds, which I agree, may well challenge class hierarchies associated with more traditional or "figurative" art styles. Curator: And it does all that through very deliberate construction. We might even ask ourselves to what degree does the precise technique negate a reading about public or mass art considering the degree of difficulty. Editor: Fair point. Ultimately the painting is the evidence, and no amount of socio-political discussion or intellectual rationalization negates that this canvas provides quite the unique viewing experience.