Mammal in a Sunday Dress (aka my official favorite painting)
so, it's important to me that you see this painting. like so important. (well, more important that you support the artist and read their words, pretty please) but, I have put it here also:
ok so. you see it, right? I mean, that's just... holy shit.
I'm gonna try and find words, I promise. but all I can start with is like... that's basically a Rembrandt? I am astounded at the quality of the painting, the classic visual language, the importance of the whole thing. BUT ALSO! seriously. look at her? this is truly a gaze into her soul, and more importantly, she is gazing into mine!!!! so basically, the technical mastery of a Rembrandt (and I know that it's digital but I don't think that disqualifies it lmao) but better, since it has so much more soul.
god, it's exquisite. I love anything that reminds me we are animals. I love anything that shows all the edifice of society (especially in this era of history) is just that: edifice. and listen, I recognize that this is possibly the least coherent 'review' of visual art since, you know, I know nothing about visual art. but it's super cool, right?
it reminds me of Judith Beheading Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi in the Uffizi which is such a thrilling example of great art by a female artist...
or The Reluctant Bride by Auguste Toulmouche which was hilariously TikTok famous for a second.
female rage makes me feel so good! I should probably, at some point, examine why it makes me feel good, beyond a surface-level acknowledgement of the patriarchy or whatever. there is something about recognizing your own anger and pain in another's eyes that alleviates the worst of it.
also, good art is so good. god, I love art. it's so important to be able to look at something and know that a human being created something to share with other human beings. I want to see this painting in a museum someday. it's so important to be reminded that we're animals - that what makes us different than other life on earth is pretty much only defined in instinct and spirt, and what makes us different that machines is ever-growing.
because here's the thing: AI this, AI that, whatever whatever. genuinely, everyone that uses it must be pretending that it's helpful, because the few times I have tried have been wildly disappointing (ethical monstrosities aside, if you can manage). but these days, it probably could create some mimicry of a classic portrait of a woman in a pretty dress with the correct number of limbs and digits. it could borrow from the same canon of great art and make the same visual references, by virtue of the smooshed-together-ness of anything LLMs can guess. but it would never be anything new, by definition. it could never be this.
this painting is the perfect mix of old and new. and she looks like she's going to kill me. and I fucking love it.
rawr