Angels 2000

Arsen Savadov created this photograph, Angels, and who knows when? It looks like a theater set. Two men wear wings in a landscape with a tree and other props, it seems so staged and intentional. I wonder what it was like to work with Arsen? What did he say when he was directing his subjects? As a painter, I am drawn to how Savadov stages the scene. It seems like he is referencing lots of painting through the ages. Are the angels fallen or are they just tired? It reminds me of the history paintings of the Renaissance, but there's also something surreal and dreamlike. All these objects! Photography is so different from painting, but it shares the impulse to record. Savadov is in dialogue with other artists, constantly commenting on their work. And now, I am commenting on his! What a conversation this is. Each of us expressing something of ourselves, in our own way.