A little disclaimer here. His images are not for the faint-hearted or nonchalant, be it his exaggerated nudes or his searingly nightmarish images of the Abu Ghraib incident; each are very powerful.
The first image I saw, was of the artist painting a large nude which was somewhat comical yet sad, all in all something anyone can identify with; not necessarily the size, but the message, shall we say. Can't remember the name of the piece though. Another one was a very dramatic image of druglord Pablo Escobar's death.
There was more to come. Horrific and painful images of the prisoners who were inhumanely tortured and dehumanised mercilessly over and over again at Abu Gharaib during the recent war. I am no art critic or patron but I feel that if an artist's work effects you in some way or the other, be it positive or negative, his work is done. that is the gift to me.
In the words of the artist,
"The power of art is to make you remember something and I hope that will happen with my work," says Botero.
More than remembered, its clearly etched in my mind. Both the traumatic incident and Botero's images. Just like a modern day Guernica, perhaps.
Slate
Botero in Venice
Henryk Broder
3 comments:
Me thinks he lives life with a air pump around as he has this uncanny ability to blow up all the characterasin his paintings. But its great to see something new.
If you talk about, leaving a lasting impression.. maybe it does. But i still would leave the 'Guernica' aside as it was and will remain one of a few paitings which made me feel.
Not funny...
About the Guernica bit, it wasnt a comparison. All I meant was, they both depict war. ;-)
I can't say that his work's a masterpiece..but still his mere act of taking up an issue that many, simply are happy to avoid..is commendable.
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