Untitled (man with cats in boxing ring) 1948

Curator: This black-and-white photograph, simply titled "Untitled (man with cats in boxing ring)," comes to us from the artists Lucian and Mary Brown. What strikes you most about it? Editor: The very *idea* of it! Cats in a boxing ring, overseen by a man in a striped suit – what was the process like to construct that set? Did the artists have prior experience building sets and small-scale models? Curator: The composition is undeniably odd. The man's gaze is averted, and the cats are rendered somewhat sinister by the photographic reversal. Editor: To me, it raises questions about labor. The labor of the artists in staging this scene, of course. But also the implied "labor" of the cats, literally trapped in the ring. Curator: I hadn't considered it in those terms. Editor: The photograph presents a fascinating interplay of power dynamics and material conditions. Food for thought.