Wounded Mountain 1958

Curator: This arresting print is entitled "Wounded Mountain" and was conceived in 1958 by Michael Ponce de León. He worked with drawings and prints to capture its stark landscape. Editor: The first thing that strikes me is the deep melancholic feeling—a sort of solemn monumentality. It almost feels funereal. That gash of red suggests a visceral wound. Curator: Ponce de León explored the idea of landscapes marked by both physical and psychic trauma. We see that reflected across American art during this time period as artists grappled with Cold War anxieties. Abstraction gave them the freedom to articulate such issues without literal depiction. Editor: Red, of course, always evokes blood, passion, sometimes even rage, and is quite a visual contrast with the brooding black. I’m drawn to the crack in the ‘mountain’s’ peak. Is that suggestive of some fissure in our own psychological landscape? It seems the symbolism runs deep here. Curator: Certainly, it invites readings on many levels. Remember this was made in the late 1950s during periods of urban renewal that had deep social effects. Ponce de León became prominent in New York. A place that certainly witnessed rapid change and demolition. The notion of something being wounded reflects not only an actual geographical space but the wounding of communities too. Editor: Yes, looking at it further, I notice faint etchings that could almost represent small habitations…perhaps representing the very human cost of such transformations. There is something that’s quite striking here in terms of enduring trauma rendered abstract. Curator: The artwork and its abstract landscape invite open-ended interpretation but it remains such a strong indictment of the times during which it was produced, both from a cultural and societal lens. Editor: The more I consider the 'Wounded Mountain', the more resonant those symbols become and it’s clear how such a seemingly simple form embodies deeply layered narratives.