The after effects exhibition catalogue giovanna ngai

A journey of wartime effects viewed through the artist’s lens Giovanna Ngai (20478941)

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Exhibition Catalogue Assignment FINE 209, Modern Art 1940-1970 Lori Riva November 12, 2013

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War. Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

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t is the conflict of the masses, resulting in affliction of even larger masses. It is the epitome of human loss. We are often left with counting who is left, what is left, rather than what was won. Why have we yet to solve this age-old problem? Why does it keep repeating? How are we supposed to survive when we are thrown into the midst of a battle we never chose? How do we cope when left with the consequences of a battle we never even played a part in?

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rtists have been documenting emotions and experiences through art for as long time itself, and it is how war has shaped the nature of these artistic outlets across the Modern and Postmodern era, which this exhibition is seeking to explore.

Modern art is known for their rejection of tradition, breaking creative grounds to properly convey the horrifying wartime experiences. Each war is different, but the outcome is often the same. How the individual copes with their experiences however, is extremely unique. This exhibition features five different artists from across the globe, their contributions to the constantly evolving story of Modern Art, and how they each struggled and coped with their wartime experiences. Their art allows us to glimpse into their historical timeframe, communicating the multitude of emotions struggling to break free. Whether they were right in the midst of the fighting or losing loved ones from across the sea, living with the consequences of a conflict by their ancestors or right at the brink of battle, war drastically changed these artists and the way they create.

Through the search for personal identity, national identity, the struggle to survive the day, fleeing from place to place in search of freedom, and the reliance of hope, artists have actively responded to the surrounding turmoil through their artistic styles. War has shaped the genres of modern art and our current understanding of war throughout the ages.

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he artworks from this exhibition were selected for their unique messages and depictions, the artists for their unique experiences with war. Each painting depicts a different facet of the human experience with war and conveys a specific message about the effects of war on the individual. Each artist has been touched by war in a scarring way and many have changed their artistic styles drastically to respond appropriately. The common theme which ties all the artists together is their ability to express not only the brutality of war, but to delicately tell a story about the individual’s human experience with the war and communicate the language of human loss.

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e begin with a gripping piece by Krishen Khanna, whose family fled from the Partition of India and Pakistan when he was 22 years old. Deeply affected by the surrounding chaos of his family and his country, Khanna’s works capture the moments of history which he experiences. He moved from abstraction to figurative painting to represent the gravity of the subject matter properly, but he explores he individual experience through colour and expressive brushwork, creatively capturing the condition which the individual is caught in. His pieces are far from photo-realistic as they tell a story, a narrative of the human condition in war paralleled to his experiences.

Khanna was a part of the famous Progressive Artists’ Group and is recognized as an immense contributor to Indian Art, receiving multiple honours from the Government of India including the Lalit Kala Ratna from the President of India in 2004 and the Padma Shri in 1990. He has also won a fellowship from the New York Council for Economic and Cultural Affair after being awarded the travel grant in 1962.

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ext we have a sombre piece by Paul Guiragossian, whose pieces are seeped with a dark foreboding of tragedy and loss. Born in Jerusalem to Armenian parents, Guiragossian was raised by the survivors of the Armenian Genocide.

Like Khanna, Guiragossian experienced the consequences of war from a young age and was consumed by art all his life as he struggled to express the complexities of the human condition. Rendering his artworks to express the individual human experience with death and loss, Guiragossian is known for his elongated, vertically stretched bodies painted with thick layers of colour. Guiragossian is one of the most celebrated artists in Lebanon and was granted multiple scholarships and awarded many prizes, including a scholarship to study at the Academia di Belle Arti di Firenze in Florence from the Italian Government, and another to study at Les Ateliers Des Maîtres De L’Ecole De Paris in Paris from the French Government.

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he next piece was painting in France, by the well-known and loved artist, Pablo Picasso. This painting was the last of his series in protest of the bombing of Guernica in the Spanish Civil War. This was a very difficult personal time for Picasso as his mother wrote to him from Barcelona about her experiences with the burning city, and he was protesting against the politics of the time. His lover was the subject of this painting as she was said to have features that were always weeping, and Picasso needed to study how to capture the range of pain communicated by human expression, exploring further into the experience of individual suffering as a continuation from the tortured figures of his Guernica painting in 1937. During this time in Paris, German Nazis often questioned his work and artistic style. Picasso is one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century, and at the forefront of modern art era.

His works were revolutionary and was critical in the founding of multiple artistic movements.

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p next is a slightly difference piece in content, by the Danish painter Asger Oluf Jorn. Born in the northwest corner of Denmark, Jorn’s artistic experience with war was the opposite of Khanna’s. Although Jorn was impacted by the Nazi Regime at around the same age as Khanna, Jorn moved from figurative painting to abstract art, struggling with depression and strong anticommunist feelings. He founded a number of resistance art groups, including the underground Helhesten (hell-horse) art group praising kitsch, and the COBRA, an European avant-garde art group. He found many things unacceptable with the bourgeois’ political control after the war and contributed to many scholarly books and articles, as well as participated actively in conferences and other political issues. His works are of an improvisatory approach as a means retaliating against the repressive bourgeois conventions. It is described as almost child-like, and often explores the inner struggle of the figure in the painting, exploring the dualities of artistic tension. Jorn was also awarded the Guggenheim Award in 1964 with a generous cash prize by the International Jury assembled by Lawrence Alloway, which he promptly refused, sending an extremely rude telegram to the president of the Guggenheim expressing his anger.

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ast on the list is a contemporary piece by the artist Kareem Risan, who is one of many Iraqi artists currently in exile. Born in Iraq, he was one of the many to witness the periods of turbulence, escalations of violence, and political turmoil in the country, especially after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. His artwork showcases the long term devastation from the political situation in Iraq and his artistic expression an outlet for his experiences. He captures the shifting history and the after-effects of war on the modern Arab word through regional motifs and abstract forms using heavily saturated hues of paints often laced with text. Risan’s works has been exhibited internationally, receiving the Referee Award at the 1988 International Cairo Biennale, amongst many other prizes from the many exhibitions. He currently resides in Canada.

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hether it is Khanna and Guiragossian’s expression of the human inability to truly flee from war or Picasso’s story of the paint and suffering of war, Jorn’s child-like resistance against the oppression of war or Risan’s open depiction of the gravity of current day atomic warfare, each artist has been touched and changed by war on a personal level, and each artwork is the reflection of that connection between artist and war. War has shaped the lives of these artists and their works, and we can see the individual human situation of that moment in history through their art pieces. There is a gripping story in each of the pieces and their individual components enable us to truly understand the lasting after-effects of war throughout the decades, and the artistic journey of creative expression through the artists’ lenses.

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Krishen Khanna (1925- ) Betrayal (1950) Oil on Canvas 34 x 26 in | 86.4 x 66 cm Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum Collection Mumbai, India Figurative Painting

“Krishen Khanna’s entire concern with the biblical theme of Christ’s betrayal is informed by a sense of the tragic. In his work the religious context becomes overwhelmingly social; we do not see Christ, the son of God, as reformer, healer, preacher, iconoclast, as leader of men. Instead he becomes the human prototype pushed to the brink by betrayal and greed. The figures are from contemporary Delhi, specifically the Nizamuddin Bhogal area where Krishen lived for over a decade. They have a strongly defined quality, the rugged physique of the labour class, sun darkened bodies and rough, even callous faces. The Christian theme becomes a subaltern, Indian tragedy, of the outcome of conflict with figures of authority” (Gayatri Sinha, Krishen Khanna – A Critical Biography, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, 2001, p. 135)

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hanna’s Betrayal is one of many works embodying the socio-political turmoil during the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. Although the separation of the two states occurred in 1947, the violent turmoil that followed lasted nearly three decades. Nearly millions of civilians were caught in the crossfire of riots and fights, with an estimated death toll of a million people. Khanna and his family were one of the millions of families who migrated to neighbouring cities and countries. Afflicted by the unsettling times, Khanna’s works are figurative rather than abstract, unlike many other contemporary artists, so that he can delve into the scenes of stories of his life’s experiences. Many of his earlier works are snapshots of the imprinted memories of the violence during that period. In a recent interview he said, “I used to do abstracts earlier and I have now moved on to human forms. I thought that the person or the individual is being neglected – the person in a particular situation who is influenced by the conditions around. I want to now emphasise the human beings caught up in their particular condition.”

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his painting is such a piece of art; a cross section of the biblical story and Khanna’s own story of a country torn apart by betrayal and greed. This painting captures a snapshot of history, artistically expressed through the personal story of the artist and his historical context. Khanna’s work is painted with spontaneity and alive with a narrative energy, keeping the representational visual of the two figures while allowing for the crude expression of the mundane, human condition in a war-torn world.

His gestural impacts on the canvas evoke the human situation through the skillful paint strokes. It is clearly seen how the war has shaped the way in which Khanna paints.

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Paul Guiragossian (1926-1993) Exile (1962) Mixed Media on Paper 10.6 x 2.8 in | 27 x 7 cm The Paul Guiragossian Foundation Beirut, Lebanon Neo-Expressionism “With Guiragossian, one is overwhelmed by the richness of his expression and the massive production that his obsession with the past and absence has generated. His works express the human condition through renderings of vertical, elongated, purged bodies, both static and in motion, painted with thick layers of often very luminous colors. The life cycle, punctuated by unforgettable moments which rally the individual from within the context of the group, constantly contrasts the permanence of the group to the impermanence of the individual. With this philosophy, Guiragossian viewed history as an endless succession of looting, wars, catastrophes, massacres, ruination, and injustice. The individual, as alone, unarmed, vulnerable, and constantly under menace, is the sacrificial victim already designated as such by the group. This theme of tainted or illusory freedom and happiness permeates Guiragossian's paintings.

As Guiragossian celebrates birth, death approaches and perches on the cradle; as he celebrates a moment of bright happiness, a somber pain approaches; as the bride puts on her white bridal veil, a shadowy acquaintance becomes bound to her. If he paints friendship, peace, or tenderness, it is only by demonstrating their fragility and cost. When evoking them he conjures up their inevitable end. If his figures cling to one another so closely that they seem to interpenetrate, it is because they know that the separation, the absence, the solitude that they vaguely fear will come all too soon.�

(Dickran Kouymjian)

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orn in Jerusalem after the Armenian Genocide, Paul Guiragossian was raised by parent survivors of the Genocide and experienced exile as an outsider at a very young age. He was put into boarding schools where he discovered his talent for drawing when the other children asked him to draw for them. Evacuated from Palestine by the British in 1948, Guiragossian and his family were sailed off to Lebanon, where Guiragossian would later become a famous artist. He created numerous notable pieces spanning over the next five decades using a mix between abstract gesture and realistic form to explore the human condition. This piece, Exile, is one of many famous works created with an abandon for the academicism, something which many of Guiragossian’s colleagues were exercising at the time. Guiragossian created his own style to liberate himself from the discernible physicality of the human figure and allow him to delve into the world of the individual’s struggle between life and death. Subconsciously, he spent his whole life obsessing over the manifestation of the human condition and struggling to artistically represent the looming death which came alongside life on earth. His entire childhood he had played the part of the exiled, the outsider, the laborer (he started off painted portraits to support his mother). These struggles and consequences of a wartorn birthplace carried onto his canvases, as seen in Exile, where the painted figures are faceless forms thickly brushed on with gestural strokes, a patchy vibrant backdrop to a lonely, shadowy figure. The isolation experienced after war is long and lasting even in the generations to come.

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Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Weeping Woman (1937) Oil on Canvas 23.62 x 19.25 in | 60 x 49 cm Tate Modern London, UK Abstract (Representational) “For me she's the weeping woman. For years I've painted her in tortured forms, not through sadism, and not with pleasure, either; just obeying a vision that forced itself on me. It was the deep reality, not the superficial one... Dora, for me, was always a weeping woman....And it's important, because women are suffering machines.”

(Pablo Picasso)

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icasso’s The Weeping Woman is the last of the series he created depicting the suffering taking place from the Spanish Civil War. He first painted the famous Guernica, illustrating the terror created from the Luftwaffe’s bombing of Guernica on behalf of Franco in the 1937 Civil War, followed by a series of other paintings, prints and drawings depicting weeping women as a protest against this tragedy. It was an extremely personal matter as the war touched his life profoundly with his mother still residing in Barcelona where the bombs burning the city. Picasso received a letter in May 1937 from his mother, detailing how the smoke from the war made her eyes water.

Reflecting this in the painting, Picasso combines the traditional Spanish image of the weeping Virgin, The Mater Dolorosa, who is depicted in sculptures with glass tears, along with the experience of his own mother, to illustrate the large tear which is hanging on the woman’s left eye. The entire painting is meant to convey the violence and pain of war, translated into the rawest human emotions and represented in the sharply painted surfaces and jagged lines. The war moved Picasso greatly, and he was adamant in conveying this effect through his series of artworks following the Spanish Civil War. He created painting after painting depicting the suffering and weeping of women. In this painting, you can see the corrosive nature of the tears, the raggedness of the pain, the sharpness of the napkin, as if a shard of glass. This painting pulls the audience in with the aperture of the eyes and envelops the viewer to feel the full extent of the pain, suffering, and grief of war.

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Asger Jorn (1914-1973) Letter to my Son (1957) Oil on Canvas 51 x 77 in | 129.5 x 195.5 cm

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Tate Modern London, UK Abstract Expressionism

riginally born in Denmark, Jorn studied under Kandinsky in Paris until he decided to turn away from figurative painting and learn abstract art from Fernand Leger’s Academie Contemporaire. As the Second World War set in and Nazi Germany occupied Denmark, Jorn became deeply depressed by the surrounding crisis. He soon became an active member of the resistance against the communists. After the war, Jorn was still disturbed by the political power which the bourgeois society held, restricting the common people for freedom to think and express themselves. So he co-founded COBRA in France, a European avant-garde art movement which fought to liberate artists from the repressive conventions set forth by the bourgeois, through an improvisatory, child-like approach to art. The war heightened Jorn’s tendency to examine his surroundings with deep criticism and skepticism, often laced with hints of irony and humour. Letter to my Son holds true to the COBRA’s childlike technique despite Jorn painting it after the disbandment of the group. The war shifted Jorn’s artistic journey to constantly challenge tradition and break social-political norms, which then translated onto his artworks and paintings. This tension of the struggle is seen in the painting as he communicates the urgency of freedom and expression to his son, Ole, who was born in 1950. The composition is busy with spontaneous energetic, and is one of Jorn’s most ambitious paintings when he was internationally recognized.

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Kareem Risan (1960- ) Uranium Civilization (2001) Unbound Book: Mixed Media on Paper (16 folded pages) 16.5 x 16.5 in | 41.9 x 41.9 cm Tala Azzawi Collection, Iraqi Museum of Modern Art Baghdad, Iraq Collage

12 | P a g e “I present these sixteen visual testimonies as an eyewitness to the depleted uranium used by the United States as a weapon of war against Iraq. It is an internationally prohibited weapon, and its aftermath was destructive and inhumane. It led to many cases of cancer and to the loss of many innocent lives in Iraq. In addition to my documentation of the event, this work is a record of my moral and human condemnation of this new civilization I called Uranium Civilization.”

(Kareem Risan)

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he most contemporary piece in this exhibition is Urban Civilization, a multi-media book by Kareem Risan. Risan was born in Iraq and grew up witnessing the escalating conflicts and violence in Iran’s modern history before he was exiled in 2005. Such as many Iraqi artists of his generation, Risan’s roots are clearly seen in his artworks, through the accumulation of the layers of pain and anger from his country’s social, political and cultural conflicts. Risan’s works capture the quickly shifting environment in Iran with the devastatingly turbulent violence. In Uranium Civilization, Risan openly voices his concern for the destruction of his country and their people, capturing the carnage caused by war. This mixed-media book expresses the widespread panic of hazardous weaponry and warfare after the use of uranium anti-tank shells in Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War. Through the vivid layers of text, colours and form, the powerful images stir a disturbance within the soul using the strong reds and dark blacks. The sullied pages are stained with nightmarish visions of the after-effects of depleted uranium used by the American and British forces. The blacks seep the pages like tar, with bloodstain reds brushed on, creating the motion of a cancerous destruction creeping overtop, only to be punctured by Arabic characters piled into the human form, suggesting the body count and death toll. In a famous collection of diary entries from the “Baghdad Diaries”, the Iraqi artist Nuha al-Radi wrote this before he died of the very cancer he talked of: “The depleted uranium left by the U.S. bombing campaign has turned Iraq into a cancer-infested country. For hundreds of years to come, the effects of the uranium will continue to wreak havoc on Iraq and its surrounding areas.”

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ishan narrates of a story about the wartime after-effects through Uranium Civilization, painting the story of a world, his world, which has become a wasteland of devastation and panic after the wars.

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Artwork #5

Gallery Store

Reference/Study Layout Photos

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The exhibition layout will be in a circular pentagonal shape where there is no distinctive “start” or “end”, but instead viewers can loop in a continuous motion, just as the effects of war continuously loop and repeat onto the next generations. The 5th piece by Rishan will be the first artwork visitors will see, as it will be facing the entrance. I chose this because Uranium Civilization is the only piece that will not be hung up (will most likely be in a display case) and it is also the most contemporary and unique piece. Audience members will be able to use that piece as a start and finish anchor point to connect and reconnect as it symbolizes both the beginning, middle, and post-war period, tying in the elements of the exhibition together in a tangible form (it is the most relevant to current day society). Continuing into the pentagon will be the 1st piece by Khanna on the left and the 4th piece by Jorn on the right. Visitors can go left and begin their journey from the starting point of impact between war and the individual shown in Khanna’s Betrayal, or work backwards from the outcome of war on the individual and their offspring, as shown through Jorn’s gestural Letter to my Son. The middle artworks by Picasso and Guiragossian are at the top of the Pentagon, as they are the connecting pieces of art.

Guiragossian connects Khanna’s representational painting of the brutality of war to Jorn’s abstract expressionistic work through the mutated figurative form, incorporating expressionistic features in its message of duality: artistic liberty fighting the shadow of war and death’s looming figure. The same occurs as Picasso’s Weeping Woman connects the gestural abstract forms of Jorn’s artwork to the more figurative form of Khanna’s painting. Overall, the concept is that viewers can walk through the decades and view the many facets of the after-effects of war, journeying all over the world through the lens of the artist and viewing their individual stories of war and the human condition.

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Works Cited 1. ANDERSEN, TROELS. "SILKEBORG KUNSTMUSEUM." ASGER JORN. N.p.: n.p., 1985. 25-31. Asger Jorn. Museum Jorn-Silkeborg. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.museumjorn.dk/en/article_presentation.asp?AjrDcmntId=255>.

2. "Asger JornThe Timid Proud One 1957." Tate Modern. Tate, Nov. 2005. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/jorn-the-timid-proud-onet00853>.

3. Bates, Crispin, Dr. "The Hidden Story of Partition and Its Legacies." BBC News.

BBC, 3 Mar. 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/partition1947_01.shtml>.

4. Department of Education at The Museum of Modern Art. Education Guide. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2007. Web. <http://www.moma.org/pdfs/moma_learning/docs/MAI6_Full.pdf>.

5. Doshi, Riddhi. "Krishen Khanna's Painting Peeves." DNA. Diligent Media Corporation Ltd., 25 Jan. 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-krishen-khannas-painting-peeves1339304>.

6. Farhat, Maymanah. "The Art of Kareem Risan and the Uranium Civilization." The Art of Kareem Risan and the Uranium Civilization. Jabra Ibrahim Jabra. Iraqi Art Today (Baghdad: Al Wasiti Festival, 1972)., 2007. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.ila-magazine.com/www.ilamagazine.com/english/Artikelen/2010/8/29_The_Art_of_Kareem_Risan_and_the _Uranium_Civilization.html>.

7. Guiragossian, Paul. Exile. 1962. The Paul Guiragossian Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon. The Legacy Project. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.legacyproject.org/index.php?page=art_detail>.

8. "How Disasters Of War Made Goya a 'modern' Artist." Phaidon. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://ca.phaidon.com/agenda/art/articles/2012/february/13/howdisasters-of-war-made-goya-a-modern-artist/>.

9. "Iraqi Artists in Exile - KAREEM RISAN." STATION Museum of Contemporary Art. Tation Museum of Contemporary Art, 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://stationmuseum.com/index.php/exhibitions/19-exhibitions/181-iraqiartists-in-exile-kareem-risan>.

10. Jones, Jonathan. "Weeping Woman, Pablo Picasso (1937)." The Guardian.

Guardian News and Media Limited, 15 May 2000. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2000/may/13/art>.

11. Jorn, Asger. Letter to My Son. 1957. Tate Modern, London, UK. Tate Modern.

Tate. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/jorn-letter-tomy-son-t03864>.

12. "KAREEM RISAN." Barjeel Art Foundation. Barjeel Art Foundation, 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.barjeelartfoundation.org/artist/iraq/kareem-risan/>.

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13. Khanna, Krishen. Betrayal. 1950. From the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum Collection, Mumbai, India. Saffronart.

Saffronart Management Corporation. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.saffronart.com/fixed/ItemDetails.aspx?iid=29114>.

14. "Krishen Khanna." Krishen Khanna. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.contemporaryindianart.com/krishen_khanna.htm>.

15. Moreno-Bunge, Sophia. "Iraqi Contemporary Art Influenced By War And Exile."

The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 Dec. 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/10/iraqi-contemporary-artin_n_795289.html>.

16. "Paul Guiragossian- Artist Detail." The Legacy Project, New York, NY. N.p., 2008.

Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.legacyproject.org/index.php?page=artist_detail>.

17. "Paul Guiragossian: The Human Condition." Beirut Exhibition Center. Solidere, Jan. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.beirutexhibitioncenter.com/exhibitions/paul-guiragossian-humancondition>.

18. Picasso, Pablo. Weeping Woman. 1937. Tate Modern, London, UK. Tate Modern.

Tate. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/picassoweeping-woman-t05010>.

19. "POST-WAR & CONTEMPORARY ART." Christie's. Christie's, n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.christies.com/departments/post-war-and-contemporary-art74-1.aspx>.

20. "The Weeping Woman, 1937 by Pablo Picasso." Pablo Picasso. Paintings, Quotes, Bibliographies. PabloPicasso.Org, 2009. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.pablopicasso.org/the-weeping-woman.jsp>.

21. "Word into Art." The British Museum. Trustees of the British Museum, n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/online_tours/museum_and_exhibition/ word_into_art/kareem_risan_iraq,_uranium_c.aspx>.

22. Jenna. "Worn Through Âť Exhibition Review: Drawing Fashion at the Design Museum." Worn Through. Apparel with an Academic Perspective. WordPress, 16 Dec. 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.wornthrough.com/2010/12/16/exhibition-review-drawing-fashionat-the-design-museum/>.