Compostion VII 1962

Editor: This is "Composition VII" from 1962, created by Matta using ink and printmaking techniques. There's a ghostly, almost mechanical quality to the figuration. It looks both futuristic and somehow ancient at the same time. What stands out to you? Curator: For me, it's the process of printmaking itself that holds the key. Consider the labour involved – the repeated actions, the chemical processes, the physical pressure required to transfer the image. This isn’t simply a representation; it's a record of its own making, its own materiality. Where do you think Matta situates this in between figuration and abstraction? Editor: I see what you mean about the process! Maybe that tension between abstraction and figuration reflects a negotiation between the artist's hand and the mechanical reproduction of the print? Is the surrealist context relevant here, pushing beyond traditional artistic production models? Curator: Absolutely! Think about Surrealism’s interest in automatism, chance encounters and psychic forces and apply this lens to the context and means of production here: etching, aquatint, engraving...These practices involved working the plate to render multiple impressions - to work with reproduction, one has to surrender themselves in part to machine labor to reproduce, proliferate images as multiples... Editor: That makes sense. So, it's less about the "what" of the image and more about the "how" and "why" it was made, particularly its context, materials, labor? It subverts this traditional relationship with the single "unique" work? Curator: Precisely! We see that consumption of labor, its material processes within the art form itself as challenging hierarchies within art making that separates out fine art from other productive social activities and modes. How does this challenge of medium change our understanding and interpretation of other art? Editor: This perspective makes me reconsider the relationship between the artist, the materials, and the eventual viewer! Thanks! Curator: And it highlights the often-invisible labour that goes into creating art, even something that appears so spontaneous.