Abstraction of lines and curves 1985

Curator: This is "Abstraction of Lines and Curves" by Jean-Paul Jerome, completed in 1985. The work is rendered with acrylic paint, giving it a distinct visual texture and depth. Editor: My initial impression is one of earthy restraint. The limited palette of browns and blacks, coupled with those strong geometric shapes, creates a surprisingly grounded composition. Curator: Interesting observation. Jerome was, after all, working within a milieu highly influenced by movements like Op Art and Pop Art, styles known for their engagement with popular culture and visual perception, which might explain the deceptive simplicity. How do you feel those forces play into the reading of it? Editor: I'm struck by the interplay of positive and negative space. The forms aren't just shapes, they define each other, creating a visual tension. The way Jerome utilizes those curved forms, juxtaposed with sharp lines, is quite compelling. It prevents the work from becoming overly static or predictable. Curator: And it is tempting to think of the piece, through these dynamic choices, as a kind of reaction against some of the political tensions brewing in the eighties in North America. Consider how identity was becoming a key facet in visual representation, while Jerome creates this very elemental abstraction, but a very grounded abstraction. Editor: Yes, but the visual elements remain paramount, don't they? The color, the texture, the relationship between shapes - it all coheres into a unified visual experience, regardless of its context. One is free to view this without knowing of politics. Curator: That might be so. Yet, a singular read removes its broader implications. When we display such work we ask—what political, social, or even art-historical function does the art serve? Can art ever merely just be art, in and of itself? I remain skeptical. Editor: A good question to pose when looking, definitely, and, equally, the painting speaks fluently about shapes and harmony. Curator: Ultimately, Jerome's work sits within that crucial period in art history when formalism and social context fought, a negotiation still unresolved. Editor: Leaving the interpretation delightfully open to those of us engaging with the artwork today.