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| Ruptura (1955) by Remedios Varo |
Varo had such a cool style during this period, where she painted these thin, tall, cartoonish figures. I've seen The Juggler at the MoMA, which has that same sort of technique. It's a cool melding of realist figures with a surreal twist.
In Ruptura I see a person that is breaking away from the pack. This person on the steps is walking away from a house. A house that has six figures - one in each window - looking out with smug judgment. While the person who walks away alone looks back with their own curious smirk. There are also papers that are flying out of the house, out of the door that's been left open in this person's wake. And on the steps there are what appear to be dead leaves. And snails - one on the steps and a few in the grass.
Ruptura simply means "rupture" in English. And while the exact meaning in the painting isn't spelled out, you can tell that there's a symbolic split that is taking place. A person going against norms. Braving the elements of life and going off on their own. A push towards one's own individual journey, and a rejection of conformity. A rejection of the the safe option of staying insulated within the house. All while judgements are being cast both by the conformists who have stayed behind, and by the subversive individual walking away.
What this rupture could be over is for your own imagination to fill. It could be about rejecting societal norms that you deem wrong, in some sort of ethical or moral way. It could be about embarking on a spiritual journey. One that goes against the accepted belief systems within the society you live within. Or it could be a literal interpretation, where this person is setting off on an adventure out into the world. Just as you see in the painting. The possibilities are endless.
Remedios Varo is one of my favs. Such an awe-inspiring body of work. I hope to see many of her works in-person over the course of my life.
-ZB
