Music on the water 2012

Editor: This is "Music on the Water," an oil painting by Andrey Remnev from 2012. It has a fantastical, almost dreamlike quality to it. There's a musical instrument being played above water, but then underneath, we see scattered cutlery and musical instruments. What symbolic weight do you think Remnev is giving to music and these objects? Curator: The imagery does speak to a layering of symbolic weight, doesn't it? Think about water as a symbol - often representing the subconscious, or the flow of time. Here, above the water line, we have figures playing music. The music itself could represent harmony, creativity, or even spiritual transcendence. But below the surface, submerged, are items connected to daily life: forks, spoons, along with two red violins. Editor: It feels a little unsettling, the combination of the beautiful and the mundane. Curator: Exactly! The objects underwater, seemingly discarded or forgotten, contrast sharply with the celestial music above. Consider this: could these submerged objects represent the material world, things we often value but are ultimately transient? Editor: So, maybe music, or art in general, offers a path beyond the everyday? Curator: Possibly. Perhaps it also represents cultural memory. These objects - musical instruments and eating utensils - they connect us to our shared history, our rituals and social interactions. Remnev is maybe reminding us that these tangible things shape our lives, even as music aspires to something beyond. Editor: That’s fascinating! I initially just saw a surreal composition, but now I’m seeing it as a commentary on culture, memory and even transcendence. Curator: Precisely. By bringing together these disparate elements, Remnev invites us to contemplate the relationship between the earthly and the ethereal.