Mirella 1984

Curator: Standing before us is Tano Festa's 1984 oil painting, "Mirella." Editor: It’s…intense. The high contrast of red and blue immediately creates a sense of unease, and that rather spectral face hovering within adds to that disquiet. Curator: Festa's work often explored themes of memory and the fragmentation of images in mass media. You can definitely see how that neo-expressionist style reflects broader trends of artistic exploration during that decade, questioning representation itself. Editor: That use of colour, though, I see that divide… red often stands for passion, anger, life-force and alongside the cool detachment suggested by that pallid, almost sickly blue… what story does that tell? Curator: Well, in the 1980s, the art world grappled with identity, loss, and social anxieties. Many artists employed a bold, raw aesthetic. The red may symbolize a vitality undermined by encroaching societal issues, the AIDS crisis being an example, while the cool blue…a kind of detachment born from those concerns. Editor: Perhaps there’s a duality here as well. Look at the circular almost floral imagery near the bottom. Is that her buried hopes fighting their way into the world from the darkness of the painting's ground? The way Festa leaves things unresolved. Curator: Festa was very attuned to how commercial imagery seeps into the personal sphere. He repurposes images from art history, popular culture and advertising. One question that is raised is how cultural forces shape our understanding and expression of emotion. Is Mirella truly expressing herself, or is she being manipulated and presented for social expectations? Editor: It is that tension between personal feeling and collective representation that grabs me. "Mirella" leaves an unnerving echo in your mind and really pulls us into the questions of being and how we’re seen. Curator: It provides a powerful testament to the complex relationship between the individual, and the socio-cultural climate shaping how individuals and, perhaps more profoundly, women navigate the public space.