Untitled 1978

Curator: This untitled work by Edward Avedisian, created in 1978, immediately strikes me as an almost rebellious celebration of form and color. Editor: Yeah, it's pure energy! I feel like I’ve stumbled into the middle of a really wild street art festival, but indoors. So much bright impasto! The thickness of the acrylic... you can practically feel Avedisian layering it on. Curator: Indeed. Avedisian was working at a time when the dialogues around hard-edge painting and color-field were in full swing, pushing against the conventions of Abstract Expressionism. We can observe that interplay, here, in the raw materiality and gestural freedom alongside those definitive geometric shapes. Editor: Absolutely, those fields of colour are anything but calm, right? I mean, that huge yellow triangle dominating the canvas feels almost confrontational! Curator: And yet, notice how the composition encourages the eye to wander? The varied densities of paint create micro-narratives, from that upper field of blues and lavender to the more structured blocks near the center. Editor: You’re so right, the more I look, the more layers I see! But, tell me, how does this piece challenge notions about, say, artistic labour? I am struggling a bit... Curator: Well, consider the scale and process, where the act of creation is visible: that built-up paint suggests intense physical engagement. We must think, too, about the socio-economic forces allowing Avedisian to devote himself so fully to such intensive production and large scale, a condition not open to many laborers during this period. Editor: That's it... labour conditions that permit some individuals time for abstraction and material extravagance. The piece does push you to remember its status as object and statement, not merely inspiration, right? Thanks... It all gets so easy to just call it pretty or impressive! Curator: Precisely! Context can so enrich how we engage. I find his integration of apparent spontaneity and considered form quite compelling. Editor: For me it is Avedisian’s bravery, that unrestrained application. The energy in here makes my mind a bit quieter and somehow bigger at the same time. Curator: Yes. Thank you for those insights; let us proceed...