“The Absence of Humanity” by Hadi Aghaee
The Absence of Humanity, by Hadi Aghaee
As Robert Hughes says in his TV series, The Shock of the New, “modern art is here to provide the background hum to power.” That is definitely not this painting. Many great works of art can also be guaranteed to offend no one, which is perfectly fine, but in this day and age, and society and culture I fear we cannot afford this luxury so much anymore. This piece is a cacophonous tour de force of Fascistic surrealism with many vignettes scattered across the canvas, all relating to one clear statement: the constant struggle of people over the ages and around the world against repression, ignorance, and corrupt ideology.
The center of the painting shows a fantastic multi-limbed creature with no body to speak of, clenched in the jaws of a dragon-like monster, whose long body snakes back and around the left side of the work, curving around the top edge. We see collections of human figures in various combinations and poses throughout the piece, some who are obviously sinister and threatening, others who strike poses which are benign, ridiculous, and in uncertain conditions of powerlessness.
An interesting and somewhat incongruous image shows the planet earth in the grasp of several pairs of hands, each with its own nationalistic flag showing on their sleeves. The background is covered in exquisite subtle blankets of images, a wallpaper effect of concentration camp prisoners, scenes of decimated and destroyed cities, and piles of rubble. Amidst this landscape are more figures, adults, children, and citizens making their way through armed checkpoints. Overall this is quite disturbing but there are some small glimmers of hope tucked into the composition. A group of seated people, looking like members of the Jewish and Arab community, seated peacefully together in discourse, for example. A beautiful flock of doves in flight, a bit stylized, but lifelike nonetheless.
The speakers are dressed as fascists and have inhuman snouts, which is an original touch, lending a metaphorically evil meaning to the ideology that they are espousing, which we can interpret without the need of sound or motion.
This painting is not one that the average person wants to wake up to every morning before shuffling off to work. It is disturbing and poignant and yet the basic fact of it seeing the light of day, and in fact, winning the main prize gives us hope. It is not the most technically perfect work, as many of the entries were indeed quite excellent in execution, but this one is but a snapshot on the path that the artist is taking and shows such potential that we can expect even more great work from them in the future. I find it inspirational and it was exactly what I was hoping to find as I was examining all the collected submissions, although at the time I didn’t know it. This may sound maudlin, but I fear that we might well see a time when this piece will not be allowed to be shown, or even to be created or exist at all.
— Bruce Horton