Prima donna 2021

Curator: Alright, let’s discuss Michael Cheval’s acrylic on canvas piece, "Prima Donna," created in 2021. The artist paints an unreal world. What's your first impression? Editor: Red. Intense red, theatrical almost. It feels… melodramatic? And all those horns! They contribute to this exaggerated fanfare. Curator: Precisely! The woman is centered as the stage itself with a playful composition where her gown falls to reveal a gramophone and musical instruments that create a world behind her. This play reveals the artist's pursuit of turning dreams into an "i-Reality". It is about constructing believable visual illusions in a quest for “how life would look” within a new artistic approach. Editor: Her gown does break down that stage-like division; instead of fabric, we find gramophones, and her hips open into the spread of book pages. It suggests that our perception of reality itself might be performative, like dressing up. What do you think about the surrealist influence? Curator: Cheval is an avid proponent of 'Conceptualism', which, distinct from Surrealism, is defined as building upon allegories, giving the viewer clues. Everything has been rendered hyper-realistic; a nod to Magritte. Each element has a clearly defined boundary, despite being rendered in a dreamlike state. Editor: You are right, he isn’t quite the master of disorientation that Magritte can be. And tell me about this figure that looms on the right. I think her placement there changes the reading of the painting as a whole. Curator: Another figure is rendered behind our 'Prima Donna', creating this sense that the main character exists with two faces – one looking at the illusory image created in her mirror. What do you make of this opposition, from a semiotic view? Editor: So much symbolism! I wonder, is it the figure’s passivity that underscores the woman's command of the central space and objects? It's as if she, by comparison, embodies the role of being watched, or evaluated. She is being judged as “not the Prima Donna”, the “lesser-than”. She knows it too. It is in the eyes… Curator: That’s brilliant! It also reveals much of our perception and reality when juxtaposed. Editor: Well, all in all, Cheval makes quite the dramatic statement, and it really has the viewer dissecting "what is real". Thank you for expanding my thoughts. Curator: My pleasure; hopefully our listeners have the material and desire to investigate more!