"Adventure"

For an English assignment in which we had to choose an artwork from the High Museum of Arts and interpret the meaning of the piece, I chose “The Avoider” by Michael Borremans. This painting I will admit looked very simple when I walked by it but there were aspects about it that drew me to it. Even when I showed the painting to other students they were baffled at how I could manage to write a 5 page paper on a man standing with a stick. Barthes stated that some photographs attracted to him to the photo and said that this was the “adventure” which lured him in. I believe that this happened to me when I saw this picture, especially when I noticed the double shadow and the contrast between the formality of the clothes but that he was wearing them casually. Also, despite the fact that he looks dirty and that he appears to have been outside, he seems satisfied at the moment. The very reason that I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I could read into the piece, made me experience this “adventure.” Even though others pass by the painting and never look at it again, I was mesmerized by how the painting seemed to convey a message to me easily. I even told some friends that the painting spoke to me and that is why I chose it.