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Ulterior Motives
seeks to address basic issues of aesthetics with respect to the visual art in a manner that is broadly accessible to a general audience. The piece both makes use of well-known examples of abstract art as a way to demonstrate their expressive use of form and offers a demonstration of interpretative artistic analysis. At the same time, it functions as an entertainment which does not abandon plot in an effort to convey a level of intellectual content.
Furthermore, Ulterior Motives explores the dynamic between a young female art gallery owner and a hired helper who knows more than he is initially willing to let on, both about art and the relationship between the gallery owner and her ” older” husband. When “confronted with the truth,” each respond differently, ultimately revealing that, in art as well as in life, pretexts can only be maintained for a limited amount of time.” Eventually the truth just starts to leak out and the whole elaborate, grand illusion . . . begins to wear just a bit thin.”