The Duo (Lot 2488) displays Ronald Ventura's virtuosic technique in figurative painting with a smooth, photorealistic rendition; however it also reveals an introspective dimension to the artist's works. It is part of his acclaimed earlier series of paintings which show the central figures enmeshed in clear plastic wrap, as though trapped within an existential situation which they can clearly see though but cannot extricate themselves from. Within this present work, two men appear to be caught in a silent psychological struggle, internally, but also with each other. The artist intended both men to represent two halves of the same whole, or separate emotional aspects to the same person; partners in life. The man crouched on the ground below wrestles with the more base, insidious problems of physical life - the unpleasant and seamy underbelly of the human condition. The man sitting elevated above him on the wall, ensconced in the suffocating embrace of the plastic wrap, has his mind on more lofty dilemmas; issues such as personal truths, love, relationships, and the ambivalence of human sexuality. Rather than a full schism between the two protagonists, Ventura chooses to portray them as temporarily apart but able to return to the whole of their being if they can overcome their dividing obstacles and reunite, neither crouched on the ground nor sitting isolated, but standing firm and tall in union with each other. Ventura's artistic skill can also be seen through the gritty texture of the background and the definition of the wide arching space that comprises of his meta-universe.