Squeeze 2000 1996

Curator: Standing before us is David Bowie’s "Squeeze 2000," crafted in 1996 using acrylic paint. The composition blends graffiti-style markings with expressionist strokes, an interesting approach that perhaps challenges how we think of this popular musician. Editor: First impression? It feels like urban chaos caught on canvas! Like walking through a back alley where art battles with consumerism for your eyeballs. See that dollar sign battling against the "Squeeze"? Powerful stuff. Curator: Indeed. The medium itself—acrylic paint—allowed Bowie for quick layering and vibrant colors to express this sense of urgency. Acrylics dry fast, enabling him to work swiftly, adding layer upon layer of marks that seem almost desperate to capture a specific energy. Editor: Absolutely. The '90s were like that – the internet exploding, money changing everything, a real feeling of being squeezed. And he’s caught it, hasn’t he? Look at the graffiti, the dripping paint, the scrawled lettering. Is that even lettering? It feels raw, untamed, honest. Like the art is shouting at us! Curator: We need to think about production too: in terms of Bowie himself as a figure commodified through labor for a specific product that, itself, relates to global supply chains. But, the 'squeeze' of "Squeeze 2000" could equally apply to emotional or intellectual pressures felt at the approach of a millennium; Bowie was likely acutely aware of social dynamics at this historical juncture. Editor: Perhaps that's why he has expressed himself in this visual manner: raw expression. I think of the layers almost like he's peeled open some strange version of reality, revealing the mania that he observed. It makes me a bit nervous, actually, like I don’t quite get it, but that’s also… exhilarating? It captures the feeling I had as a teenager, not quite understanding what it meant to enter this weird adult world. Curator: I agree that there's palpable tension in how these themes intertwine on the surface. Perhaps Bowie anticipated the anxieties related to overproduction. This image of constant “more” speaks volumes on its own merits. Editor: Makes me want to pick up a brush. Even though I'm not quite sure what I would make…maybe it's all about confronting your fears, letting out your squeeze? Thank you, Bowie, wherever you are.