Untitled 

Curator: This is an Untitled portrait by Ligia Macovei, rendered with oil paint in an impasto technique. Editor: Immediately striking! The thick layering of paint almost feels sculptural. The brushwork really evokes a sense of fleeting expression; the portrait almost seems on the verge of dissolving before our eyes. Curator: Let's consider that impasto application – the visible marks of the artist’s hand. The materiality is so upfront. It’s hard to separate the figure depicted from the substance of the painting itself, and I think the artist asks that from us. Consider the consumption of art here – she lays it bare for us as labor. Editor: Absolutely. And looking closer, there’s this interesting tension between traditional portraiture and the Neo-Expressionist style—the deconstruction of form mirrors societal shifts. This subject is viewed in isolation and almost abstraction. What narratives of the female subject can we weave? How does class enter this discourse as she dons this decorative hat? Curator: Well, think about what’s necessary to even have access to such materials. Oil paints were certainly more difficult to acquire and mix just a couple hundred years ago. The layers themselves become a symbol of time, skill, and even monetary access, and she draws our eye to the fact they are indeed “laid” here, with purpose, mark by mark. Editor: And within Neo-Expressionism, consider the rejection of Minimalism. It became this reclamation of emotional intensity and a focus on subjective experience, often reacting against dominant, cooler art trends. It's as if the artist is consciously pushing back against systems that devalue raw, individual expression, perhaps especially by women. Curator: A key part of understanding the movement and artist indeed! And, personally, that push towards intense material handling and almost violent re-construction here becomes part of a compelling and visceral experience for the viewer. Editor: It invites us to deconstruct not just the image, but the broader societal narratives it might be reflecting, or even resisting. It also makes us confront questions around power and representation. What did such adornment signify at that point in history? Curator: Agreed, what did that level of visible expenditure mean for the figure, as well as artist? It’s really thought-provoking, indeed. Editor: Absolutely, it leaves me pondering the dialogue between artistic process and social commentary, and where Macovei’s hand sits in that intersection.