Four Boys and Two Birds 

Curator: Walter Battiss's work, known as *Four Boys and Two Birds*, features an impasto technique with vibrant acrylic paints, rendered in a portrait style that is at the edge of abstraction. What strikes you about this painting? Editor: The thick application of paint, that impasto, gives it an almost sculptural feel. And yet, the colours create a swirling, almost unsettling mood. The figures seem submerged, part of the environment itself. Curator: The energetic application and broken brushwork aligns with characteristics of Abstract Expressionism. Considering Battiss's South African context, we must consider questions about identity and belonging and their relation to colonialism. How can the themes and artistic strategies be interpreted through the lens of decolonization, which permeated intellectual and artistic circles? Editor: The ambiguous figures invite speculation. The blending of figures and the surroundings could reflect the fracturing of identity and history, in a colonial or post-colonial framework, as you say. Their averted gazes also contribute to the sense of disconnection or alienation. There's a subtle unease there. Curator: Indeed, Battiss engaged with modern artistic movements and translated this to a landscape fraught with questions about who belongs and who gets to represent these spaces. The birds become crucial symbols in this kind of investigation, evoking ideas of freedom or perhaps stolen sovereignty. Editor: And I'm fascinated by how the art world has received Battiss's work, placing him, on the one hand, into a lineage of important South African artists, while also dealing with potential interpretations that come up against more progressive contemporary social critiques. This pushes us to ask questions about appropriation or, as we are discussing, what gets lost and what gets emphasized within contemporary sociopolitical contexts. Curator: Looking at *Four Boys and Two Birds* reminds me again of the power of art to subtly embed social commentary into pieces, fostering dialogue even where there is only implied meaning. Editor: It highlights the essential need to always look critically at works, understanding how pieces become part of institutional practices and are influenced by how they circulate through these power dynamics.