One Bad Apple 2009

Curator: Good morning. Today we're examining "One Bad Apple," a painting crafted in 2009 by Dave Macdowell. Editor: Well, my immediate impression is one of unsettling juxtaposition. There's a clashing of elements – a playful cartoonishness battling against what appears to be film noir undertones. Curator: Macdowell masterfully employs pop-surrealism here, weaving together disparate figural elements to generate, precisely, that kind of unsettling tension. Observe how the layering creates spatial ambiguity. The men, the cartoon figure, and even the background’s apples. Editor: Indeed. It's a sort of collision of high and low cultural references, isn't it? Those men evoke, to me, mid-century masculine ideals—perhaps Cary Grant comes to mind. And yet they share space with a peculiar cartoon character with its hand held open gripping a straight razor? It all creates an oddly theatrical sensation. A lot of the color feels off. Curator: I find the color is, perhaps, in conflict and also in harmony. He deftly maneuvers with tone and saturations to construct this atmosphere. Consider the portraiture—note the heightened realism in contrast with the fantastical components and even that shadowy scene with the man holding a gun behind. Editor: The reference to popular culture of a by-gone era cannot be ignored, though. Isn't there a deeper layer of commentary present within that kind of aesthetic mash-up? Macdowell seems intent on deconstructing ideals of entertainment. Curator: Without a doubt. These juxtapositions offer not only contrast, but create tension that challenges us to consider the relationships between these different forms of cultural expressions that existed in the collective consciousness throughout that last turn of centuries, with references that echo, visually. But, moreover, the artist focuses our attention by playing on our knowledge of line, light, form, and, finally, content, too. Editor: A stimulating take. I find my focus is most definitely arrested and, now, refocused by it. Curator: Likewise. I'll think on this.