Wallpaper 1935 - 1942

Curator: Immediately striking is this azure background – a flat, vibrant plane upon which all other forms are laid. Editor: Agreed. The texture also suggests something hand-made, hinting towards an unpretentious application, where the artist embraces, rather than hides, its material process. Shall we introduce the piece? Curator: Absolutely. We're looking at David Dorfman’s "Wallpaper," created sometime between 1935 and 1942. It seems to employ both watercolor and drawing. Editor: Wallpaper, indeed. Looking at the composition—the two canids dashing through abstracted foliage against the backdrop. It really echoes motifs of classical hunts in tapestries. Is Dorfman making a knowing reference? Curator: It feels entirely possible. Hunting scenes often symbolize power and nobility. The repeating floral elements… a blue evocative of royal pigment... Perhaps Dorfman uses such iconographic gestures ironically? I do think he uses art history to imbue his pieces with new layers. Editor: Well, speaking materially, such handmade pieces are often seen to challenge elitist narratives. Consider the socio-political mood from the late '30s to early '40s - questioning authority was rife. For what purpose could the design have been? What materials were easily at hand? Curator: Valid, valid... We must be wary of overly neat symbol decoding though. A lively decorative design is apparent and not simply an expression or a signifier of some pre-existing ideology, such design considerations have as much purpose to this work. The work oscillates somewhere between classical and something handmade; in this synthesis, perhaps that speaks most resonantly. Editor: Perhaps we read too much! Although art always speaks through its materiality as much as it attempts representation. We should leave it to listeners to determine that oscillating position for themselves! Curator: Exactly. There's definitely no single right interpretation here, is there? A thought-provoking work regardless. Editor: Indeed. A very energetic work!