Art Class Curator

Some pieces of art just make you uncomfortable. Maybe it’s a movie or scene that hits too close to home, or a book about a particularly violent event (real or fictional) that makes you squirm... or a painting that brings up regrets or painful memories. For Madalyn Gregory and myself, Marcos Raya’s 2000 painting The Anguish of Being and the Nothingness of the Universe made us feel ill at ease. So of course we had to discuss it! I’m excited to welcome Madalyn back on the show to talk about art. In this episode, we describe and interpret Raya’s piece, making personal connections along the way that surprised even me. 1:14​ - A description of Raya’s self-portrait 6:13 - Our initial reactions to the artwork and the various connections we see in the details 10:30 - How the painting puts the mundane of day-to-day life in perspective 13:37 - How Raya’s work reflects the messiness and complexity of life and space 17:46 - Madalyn shares an interpersonal interpretation of the throat area’s depiction 19:44 - The contrast