Angel of Renaissance 2019

Curator: What an enchanting vision! I see lightness and movement right away. It feels simultaneously calming and like something is about to happen. Editor: That's a wonderful way to put it. We're looking at Michael Cheval's "Angel of Renaissance," created in 2019, seemingly with acrylics. It's quite striking with the angel floating over Florence, Italy. Curator: The cityscape feels like a stage set, almost, and that angel really grabs the eye. What symbols is Cheval drawing on here? It is as if an otherworldly being blesses us with music...and that strange antique music player mounted to the side? Editor: I think the most potent element here is the re-imagining of the winged figure and placing it within a familiar historical and cultural context, like the cityscape. This reminds us of power structures inherent in classical art being disrupted through whimsical juxtaposition. Is Cheval suggesting that music and culture should liberate us? That beauty saves? Curator: Yes! Music as transcendence is a recurring motif. That phonograph is a symbol of bygone eras of musical refinement...but its connection to this angel raises all kinds of temporal questions, doesn't it? Is she pulling music *from* it or bestowing music upon it? Editor: Absolutely! We can view this from many sides and unpack what histories are not represented within this image of dream and memory. Curator: Well, I'm taken by the way Cheval uses the angel, a traditional messenger figure, but the message is not one of divinity, but of the continued relevance of beauty...art...humanism, in the modern age. Editor: A very persuasive thought. As we draw to a close here, Cheval's composition compels us to reconcile past beauty with contemporary concerns... and challenges our interpretation. Curator: Ultimately, I am reminded about the way archetypes retain their impact on our imaginations; it's an impressive technique on Cheval's part.