Self-Portrait 

Editor: This is Antonio Ligabue’s "Self-Portrait" done with oil paint. It's really striking how expressive he is, and there's almost a folk-art quality. How would you interpret this piece? Curator: Thinking about Ligabue's practice materially, it's fascinating to consider how he produced such intensely personal images given the challenges he faced. Did his struggles impact the choices of materials and the speed with which he had to produce? Were they scavenged, donated, or specifically purchased for these self-portraits? The texture, the way he layers the oil paint… these aren’t just aesthetic choices. Editor: So, you're thinking about his socio-economic context and how it impacted his painting process? Curator: Precisely! I also wonder about his audience, and how that also affected what kind of works he had to produce to sell, or what his intentions may have been? It goes beyond personal expression to also consider material conditions. How do those harsh realities get expressed through his method of painting? Look at that fly—do you think it just happened to land there while he was working, or was it something deliberate? Editor: Wow, I never thought of it that way. Now I see the fly as possibly a raw aspect of the work. Like a comment on our own fleeting existence, like his, against the bigger rural picture, while he tries to ensure that his memory lasts through painting? Curator: Exactly! And his mark on a larger social setting. What this work seems to address for me is to what extent an artist will be able to express in what form or materials available for work under their social circumstances. So much comes to bear to see the final object, it's quite humbling!