Poured Lines, Southwark Street 2009

Curator: "Poured Lines, Southwark Street," an expansive public art mural by Ian Davenport dating to 2009, offers a striking intervention into the urban landscape. Davenport, celebrated for his explorations in color and gravity, composed this site-specific work directly onto the façade using vibrant poured lines of acrylic paint. Editor: Wow, it’s like a waterfall of pure chroma! All those colors cascading down, frozen in time, transforming an otherwise unremarkable wall into a sort of joyous barcode. It’s deceptively simple, yet totally mesmerizing, I can stare at it for hours trying to determine how exactly did he made it and how they could interact each other and compose this harmonic beauty! Curator: This mural engages with themes prevalent in color field painting and hard-edge abstraction. Beyond the visual experience, I find the work's commentary on space and place is quite potent. How the artwork negotiates with urban spaces to create accessible art for the people it’s particularly inspiring. Editor: True, the pure color hits you immediately, but it's the way the different paint mix as they reach the bottom that is my jam. I'd almost call it painting-as-performance. Like watching the moment the paints decided who they were when interacting with each other during the pour... which kinda rhymes with the urban life going about its way nearby. You see how those muted earth tones in the brick are mirrored in the painting? Curator: Yes! In those hues we can find a subtle gesture towards socio-economic considerations, which, while not explicit, do contribute to the complex readings afforded by this kind of public intervention. This also ties into conversations about ownership and accessibility in art spaces... which, if we reflect for a moment, leads to an empowering sentiment: an aesthetic rebellion against exclusionary walls and ivory towers. Editor: Absolutely! I never expected to think so much staring at an apparently "simple" artwork but I must confess I will pay a bit more of attention next time that a building reveals itself as much as Davenport made possible. It is quite admirable when we let something "reveal" to us in the now, allowing for space in the between of thought. Curator: Exactly, it is a compelling project for pondering on all sorts of societal issues, and beyond the academic angle I'm now more curious about the possibilities and benefits from being a better art dweller. Editor: Indeed! Let's dwell and see if it's true that beauty always finds a way.