 ¡TODOS!, 2001 Oel auf Leinwand, 208.3 x 241.3 cm Larry Deyab Antimperialistas Havana 1998 - a city full of contradictions: chaotic, neglected, of an incredible beauty and filled with the joy of life. Havana is ruled by an unjust system imposed by the dual currency of dollars and pesos which divides the population into two classes. All access to the necessities of daily life is restricted to the few dollar holders - a group definitely in the minority. The once daily dream of Socialism kept alive since the Revolution is being overwhelmed by reality. Nevertheless everything is different here and the seed of utopia stays unfathomably alive. All this presented itself to New York artist Larry Deyab on the first of his four trips to Havana. The experience was as important to him in the development of his paintings as was Gauguin's on his arrival in Papiti. The first paintings done after Deyab's return reflect and transform the symbols and political propaganda one can find everywhere in Havana. Painted a long time ago with cheap paint directly on the walls, these signs now look weathered and faded and like palimpsests they are witnesses of the Revolution's better days. On large mural-size canvases symbols, signs and letters break through the bright red ground of the paintings. Compared with later works, paintings like "Galiano" (2000) and "Siempre Dignos" (2000) appear innocent in their abstract language. The painting "Crear Dos Viet Nam" (2001) goes a step further. Stacked large, black letters take up almost the entire right half of the red canvas. This is the first time Deyab integrates discernable language in his paintings and the change of interpretation which Che Guevara's slogan "Crear dos, tres, mucho Viet Nams" gains in the present is astonishing. Originally meant as a revolutionary call for the fight against American imperialism, Che Guevara's slogan gains almost a prophetic meaning since it implies the entire dilemma of America's pre-emptive-strike policy after the events of September 11th. The world's most powerful military is in danger of getting lost in potentially small global conflicts and unforced fulfills the conditions of it's own downfall which Che Guevara wanted to create. The political task of these paintings in their critique of the arrogance, ignorance and unreasonableness of Western World politics becomes more urgent in Deyab's spray painted works. Already the medium itself refers to political agitation and protest and the way the artist uses spray paint leaves no doubt concerning his motivation and intention. Quick and precise, these symbols, slogans and portraits of well-known revolutionaries are sprayed on mostly monochrome canvases. The results are aggressive paintings which leave the self-referential discourse of abstract painting miles behind - a discourse by the way which Deyab has been working toward for a long time. Breaking with this tradition these paintings risk a lot - not the least of which is to efface their own beauty in a conscious act. Larry Deyab's paintings of the last two years respond immediately to a world which seems to be changing drastically. In this regard they formulate in their own way an esthetic that we need more than ever - an aesthetic of resistance. Ausstellungsdauer: 25.2. - 22.3.2003 Oeffnungszeiten: Di-Fr 14 - 18 Uhr, Sa 12 - 16 Uhr Galerie Serge Ziegler Limmatstrasse 275 8005 Zürich Telefon: 01 440 42 95 Fax: 01 440 42 97 E-Mail: info@zieglergalerie.com www.zieglergalerie.com |
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