Saratoga Dreaming 1984

Curator: Burhan Dogancay’s “Saratoga Dreaming,” created in 1984, strikes me immediately as a work steeped in urban commentary. It's a mixed-media piece with strong pop-art sensibilities. Editor: It's compelling. The ribbon-like forms in black, red, and yellow suggest a deconstructed, almost rebellious composition, and its abstract-expressionistic leanings evoke a raw, visceral energy. The artist’s employment of collage is masterful. Curator: Indeed, consider the sociopolitical climate of the 1980s. The economic boom in certain sectors contrasted sharply with the growing urban decay and social inequalities, a theme Dogancay often engaged with through his “Walls” series. "Saratoga Dreaming," created during that period, is another such exploration of the American reality. The fragmentation, the layering of media... doesn’t this remind you of a torn social fabric? Editor: A possibility, certainly, though I am inclined to think less about politics. More immediately, I am taken by the dynamism achieved through contrasting colors and strong diagonal lines against an expanse of a cool, stark, flat white. The forms interact almost like hieroglyphs, pointing to their materiality first before any sort of cultural or political association. It’s modern in its use of geometry, wouldn't you agree? Curator: I would, yet it's impossible to ignore the echoes of consumer culture that reverberate. The colours suggest national flags, branding and commerce. Are these not, then, the signifiers of modern, socio-political life, or the promises of a dream unfulfilled? In this sense, its title hints at both aspiration and disillusionment, doesn't it? Editor: I grant you it evokes a response, however indirect. Yet what makes this visually stimulating to me is not its historical commentary so much as the formal tension between representation and abstraction, between line and mass. Its bold lines hint at calligraphy. Curator: An interesting idea to keep in mind as we examine how it addresses contemporary inequalities! Editor: Fair enough! Let’s perhaps spend a few more minutes each with Dogancay. I am curious as to how his career developed as the art market ballooned later on.