Dimensions: 120 x 70 cm
Copyright: Sergio Mario Illuminato,Fair Use
Editor: This is ANTI-OEDIPUS, a mixed-media and acrylic on canvas piece from 2020, by Sergio Mario Illuminato. It has such an intriguing textural surface. There's almost an earthy quality to the coloring too, quite subdued. What do you see in this work? Curator: The title definitely pulls me in; "Anti-Oedipus" is a wild philosophical reference, right? This painting feels like an excavation site of the subconscious. The layers, that furious almost scribbled application, gives me a sense of unearthing hidden tensions. There’s something very primal and raw about its emotional state, almost like peeling away the layers of societal norms we've grown to adopt and internalized repressions. The surface *does* remind me of worn tree bark too… makes me think of roots. Editor: So, would you say the abstraction helps express these more complex psychological themes? Curator: Precisely! Abstraction grants access to that visceral level. It is interesting, though, how some viewers might initially be intimidated by the lack of a recognizable form. It challenges them to rely more on intuition and feeling. Do you think the title influences how you read the work? Editor: Absolutely, knowing it references a theoretical text, pushes me to see it as a dismantling, a deconstruction…like undoing psychological frameworks. Curator: Yes! A tearing down, which sounds rather harsh, but then again there’s a certain freedom implied as well. If this painting were a question, it would ask us to dare question the most fundamental tenets we were brought up to regard and accept. This exercise sounds daunting, but it helps me liberate my inner, natural and less imposed self. So it’s a question *and* an answer. Editor: I'm glad you said that because after our talk, it feels so much less intimidating now. Curator: Wonderful. To consider that it just might reflect our own tangled, buried potential, to recognize yourself in this excavation, has become so rewarding to discover and discuss.
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