20/20

The Couple depicts two nude figures standing in front of an ominous, cresting wave, which serves as a formal device that frames the pair—relief-like—in a moment in time before the looming threat crashes down. At the bottom of the composition, the growing wave has pulled back the water from shore, revealing tiny crabs—rendered as dashes of bright red paint. They scurry humorously (some holding signboards and drink umbrellas) at the figures' feet, as if carrying foretold knowledge of the impending disaster. Schutz's layered and expressive use of paint builds the figures into organic, volumetric forms that appear sculptural. The image points to varied references: the pair can be seen as Adam and Eve being expelled from the garden of Eden, or enacting a reversal of  the motif of “Death and the Maiden,’’ while the bright yellow sun shown above the wave recalls annunciation scenes. However, Schutz's depiction of the setting and the figures remains open-ended, alluding at once to an unformed past and an unknown future.