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Lot Essay
Executed in 2009, Alsoudani's Untitled depicts a whole variety of different organic and inorganic forms entwined in a seething mass. These surreal, dream-like elements combine to form a fairly abstract head, with a clear link to Giuseppe Arcimboldo's fantastical portraits. However, where Arcimboldo relished in depicting forms from the natural world, Alsoudani's world is torn to shreds by the reality of modern warfare, bombed, bruised and battered. It is characteristic of his practice, depicting the consequences of war with sensuousness, strangeness, and total abhorrence.
However, what is particularly interesting about Untitled is that despite this immensely disturbing subject matter, as with all Alsoudani's work the painting is still hugely attractive. The palette is luminous and bright, which is in existential contrast to the dark topic depicted. Indeed, from a distance the painting could be seen as a finely worked up abstract composition. This paradox is integral to Alsoudani's oeuvre, as by clothing horror in beauty "the moment the viewer establishes a connection with the painting, they discover the details have nothing to do with the palette," and are shocked into an understanding of the awfulness of the scene (A. Alsoudani quoted in 'The Impurity of Painting,' Ahmed Alsoudani, exh. cat., London, Haunch of Venison, 2011, p. 6).
The violence enacted upon the figure in Untitled in many ways reflects modern society. Alsoudani has reacted to popular culture where grotesque images have become part of our everyday lives, whether on the news, in films or in video games. As an artist born in Baghdad in 1975, Alsoudani grew up under the reign of Saddam Hussein, and remembers helplessly watching the places he grew up burning during the destruction of the American invasion in 2003. This painting can be seen as his attempt to in some way respond to the horror of the emotions involved in having to deal with this, presenting viewers with a very modern take on the results of war.
However, what is particularly interesting about Untitled is that despite this immensely disturbing subject matter, as with all Alsoudani's work the painting is still hugely attractive. The palette is luminous and bright, which is in existential contrast to the dark topic depicted. Indeed, from a distance the painting could be seen as a finely worked up abstract composition. This paradox is integral to Alsoudani's oeuvre, as by clothing horror in beauty "the moment the viewer establishes a connection with the painting, they discover the details have nothing to do with the palette," and are shocked into an understanding of the awfulness of the scene (A. Alsoudani quoted in 'The Impurity of Painting,' Ahmed Alsoudani, exh. cat., London, Haunch of Venison, 2011, p. 6).
The violence enacted upon the figure in Untitled in many ways reflects modern society. Alsoudani has reacted to popular culture where grotesque images have become part of our everyday lives, whether on the news, in films or in video games. As an artist born in Baghdad in 1975, Alsoudani grew up under the reign of Saddam Hussein, and remembers helplessly watching the places he grew up burning during the destruction of the American invasion in 2003. This painting can be seen as his attempt to in some way respond to the horror of the emotions involved in having to deal with this, presenting viewers with a very modern take on the results of war.