Frog Test 1983

This is Dieter Asmus's painting *Frog Test*. The square composition, muted colors, and ceramic tile background give an immediate sensation of claustrophobia and clinical sterility. The figure is caught in a kind of grid. However, a jolt of color is created with the doctor's gloved hands, presenting a vivid contrast to the muted green frog and the drab setting. Asmus uses a hyperrealist style to create tension between the real and the artificial. The doctor's face, distorted by his pipe and glasses, and the frog itself, can be interpreted through the lens of semiotics. The frog, a traditional symbol of transformation and the pipe traditionally representing contemplation, are destabilized in this work. Through careful use of color and unsettling composition, Asmus challenges our assumptions about the natural world, the role of science and the symbols we use to understand it. The result is less an answer and more an invitation to continue questioning and re-evaluating the cultural codes.