Information Document

Bogdan Achimescu, Matilda Aslizadeh, Rebecca Belmore,
Jake & Dinos Chapman, Dana Claxton, Douglas Coupland,
Mario Doucette, David Garneau, William Kentridge, Wanda
Koop, Fawad Khan, Emanuel Licha, Shirin Neshat, Michael
Patterson-Carver, Dan Perjovschi, Raymond Pettibon,
Nancy Spero, Althea Thauberger, Jason Thiry, Scott Waters,
Balint Zsako
Diabolique
18 September to 14 November 2010
Oakville Galleries in Gairloch Gardens
and at Centennial Square
Curated by Amanda Cachia
Organized by the Dunlop Art Gallery
Map of Blood
by Amanda Cachia
It is no pigment powder
disenfranchised and minority groups, and those who live
Nor myrrh
below the poverty lines in all of our communities.
Pensive odor nor delectation
Garneau’s portrait bears uncanny resemblance to that
But flower of blood flush with the skin
of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American Chicago
Map of blood map of the blood
boy who was visiting relatives in August 1955. Shot in
Bled raw sweated raw skinned raw
the head and thrown in the river with a mammoth cotton
Nor tree cut to a white thrust
gin fan tied around his neck for allegedly whistling at
But blood which rises in the tree of flesh
a white woman, Till’s death mask photograph reveals
By catches by crimes
his head mottled and swollen to many times its nor-
No remittance
mal size. The stark image ran in Jet, and largely through
straight up along the stones
that medium, both the picture and Till’s story became
straight up along the bones-for
legendary. Emmett Till’s mother wanted “all the world”
copper weight shackle weight heart weight
to witness the atrocity that had been enacted upon her
venoms caravaners of the bite
son.4 Garneau’s painting, entitled Evidence (2006), recalls
at the tepid edge of fangs
the photograph of Till’s and similarly requires an act of
“Fangs” by Aime Cesaire 1
witnessing by viewers. The image is derived from an
autopsy photograph taken of Stonechild published in
Diabolique cuts a map of blood across white walls.
the public domain: an official 2004 report compiled by
The terrain opens with a disturbing image of Neil
the Saskatchewan Commission of Inquiry into Matters
Stonechild. His brutalized face hits a raw nerve, shaves
Relating to the Death of Neil Stonechild.5 (As a point of
close to the bone, particularly in Saskatchewan, where
interest, another artist in Diabolique, Rebecca Belmore,
Diabolique originated. David Garneau’s autopsy portrait
has also reflected upon Stonechild as a subject in her
of this 17-year-old First Nations target of racist violence in
previous work. Clearly, Saskatchewan is haunted by this
1990, face indented, apparently by handcuff blows, reflects
brutal martyrdom.)
the inherent social and political violence that charac-
In my foreword to the Diabolique catalogue, I pose
terizes the devil’s underbelly of Saskatchewan, whether
the question: “Is our attitude to war, our participation
those responsible for dominant lore care to admit it or not.
in and immunity to violence and our ability to act polit-
Like everywhere else, Regina is not immune to cruelty
ically and protest, stronger now, or worse?” 6 As Dan
and conflict. The oft-cited, shame-producing Maclean’s
Perjovschi’s evocative drawing on the cover of the cat-
Magazine survey that gives Regina the number one or two
alogue (Progress, 2008) captures, it appears that in the
spot (depending on the year) as the most dangerous city
space between 2000 and 2009, we have grown more ideo-
in Canada is an undeniable sign that there is war tak-
logical dicks and udders on our virtual military tanks,
2
ing place close to home. War, covert or otherwise, is
3
being waged against Aboriginal peoples, against other
an unnatural development akin to Douglas Coupland’s
bio-genetically deformed The Gorgon (2003). The artists
Previous page: Matilda Aslizadeh, Hero of our Time (detail from still), 2008, DVD (19 mins.), courtesy of the artist.
Og2 Oakville Galleries
2
and commentators whose work is featured in this show
of a soldier in Iraq (blood for oil) and plastic video-game
raise the implicit question: as viewers to such wide rang-
blood that drips off the face of a child soldier. Like the
ing approaches to the diabolique, are we swallowing the
ephemeral quality of Perjovschi’s cartoon guerilla draw-
chunks of blood and semen of terrorists and their tar-
ings, this map of blood — Stonechild’s blood — haunts the
gets, or of ourselves?
spirit, but what is left in the snow? What is the memorial
Diabolique invites viewers to walk an existential
7
line between conflict and conscience throughout the
trace? In the presence of such atrocity, what space can
there be for any meaningful apology or forgiveness?
exhibition: the “heart weight” of vomiting blood, blood-
Jacques Derrida argues that “true forgiveness con-
red backgrounds and bloodless car explosions charts
sists in forgiving the unforgivable: a contradiction all
the map of blood. There are painted blood rose dents
the more acute in this century of war crimes” (from the
on concrete pavements marked by fallen grenades in
Holocaust to Algeria to Kosovo to Saskatchewan) and
Sarajevo, Bush dragging a blown-up, blood-gushing torso
government-sponsored healing tribunals. He also confirms
Jake & Dinos Chapman, War, 2004, painted bronze, 14.5 x 19.0 x 22.5 cm, courtesy of White Cube, London.
Og2 Oakville Galleries
3
that none but the bereaved may forgive and that there
are representatives of the mechanisms of social con-
is absolutely no obligation to do so.
trol.” 9 How do we subject ourselves and each other to
In Shake Hands with the Devil, Lieutenant General
similar mixed messages and controls?
Romeo Dallaire’s extraordinary account of his time serv-
In Beyond Good and Evil (1886), Nietzsche gives the
ed as force commander of the UN Assistance Mission
“highest priority for achieving personal freedom — the ulti-
during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Dallaire recounts
mate goal of the individual — to emphasizing knowledge
“watch[ing] as the devil took control of paradise on earth
and above all not looking away from difficult knowledge,
and fed on the blood of the people who we were supposed
although it may be ugly and even deadly.” 10 What can
to protect.” 8 Who is protecting the widely diverse commu-
viewers learn from facing evil in the eye? Is war perma-
nities who live in Saskatchewan? Is it the military bases
nent and peace illusory? Repelled by horror, ironically,
in Moose Jaw or Dundurn, sending young men and women
many are equally compelled by the ravages of darkness.
off to Afghanistan? Is it the RCMP or the Regina Police
“Against our expectation, we find a covert attraction
Service? Or is it ultimately ourselves, fighting for safer
to disaster as well as a violent reaction to an image of
lives, for human rights, for social justice for everyone?
beauty.” 11 The beauty of ugliness is an old theme and the
In the end, both military and police operate under “two
“iconography of suffering has a long pedigree.”12 Cultural
contradictory directives, to protect and destroy … they
critic Reesa Greenberg has stated that “playing it safe”
William Kentridge, What will come, 2007, anamorphic projection: 35 mm film transferred to DVD; (8:40 mins.),
courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery, New York.
Og2 Oakville Galleries
4
is no longer a viable option for museums, curators, critics
minoritization, sublime truths within harsh realities,
or viewers when the questions at hand are, necessarily,
contemporary and modern renderings of historical events
13 Viewers
are all implicated in the trans-
are all juxtaposed in this exhibit. The images are threat-
gressions of these violent and shameful acts when con-
ening, and remind us that we live in an age where fear
temporary art enacts such excruciating demands. This
is both a political tool and a commodity.
so dangerous.
is the provocative challenge that Diabolique brings to
In this exhibition, the word war is used in the broadest possible sense. While war happens all over the world,
its viewers.
Elaine Scarry argues that “when one hears about
every day, in traditional contexts, war is also waged
another person’s physical pain, the events happening
in many ways and places. Many wars occur within the
within the interior of that person’s body may seem to have
four walls of our own homes and on our televisions, as
the remote character of some deep subterranean fact,
artist Martha Rosler famously demonstrated in her body
belonging to an invisible geography that, however por-
of photo-collage work, Bringing the war home: House
tentous, has no reality because it has not yet manifested
beautiful (1967–1972). “Assembled from the pages of Life
itself on the visible surface of the earth.” 14 Diabolique
magazine — where the documentary accounts of blown
strives to provide audiences with a large geographic
bodies, dead babies, and anguished faces flow seam-
arena in which two temporarily separated but spatially
lessly into mattress ads and photo features of sophisti-
congruous “chapters” provide opportunities to contem-
cated kitchens, fastidiously fertilized lawns and art-hung
plate social and political crises that have indeed mani-
living rooms — Rosler’s montages re-connect two sides
fested and become visible, stemming from Saskatchewan,
of human experience, the war in Vietnam, and the living
Canada, Italy, Romania, Ethiopia, and the rest of the world.
rooms in America, which have been falsely separated.” 16
Twenty-one international and Canadian artists share
Photography and war journalism are represented in
what is at stake in human violence and challenge view-
Diabolique by the artist Althea Thauberger, alongside
ers to look beyond the surface sensationalism of conflict
video documentary in the work of Emanuel Licha. While
to confront how invested any one can become in win-
all the other mediums in the exhibit offer streams from
ning at all costs. This work invites consideration of the
the imagination, a photograph and video seem to offer
palimpsested history of human violence, the ways it
realistic depictions — but do they? Digital art and photo
breaks boundaries and always intrudes.
manipulation have played great tricks on the human eye.
The artists in Diabolique are presenting art for our
Historically, within the context of modern warfare, pho-
time, occasionally providing a glimmer of hope amidst
tography has had relationships with notions of atrocity
opportunities for questioning and reevaluation. As the
and war crimes as evidence, manufactured or not.
history of war art — or the horror represented in art —
Consider also the role of photography in Michael
demonstrates, art can rarely claim to thwart war; it can,
Patterson-Carver’s drawing of the covering of a large
however, trace its too-often ignored effects. While not all
tapestry reproduction of Picasso’s Guernica in the United
images of war become famous, like Picasso’s Guernica
Nations headquarters in New York on February 5, 2003,
(1937), each has the ability to imprint. As Norman Rosen-
when the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell went there
thal comments in his essay for Apocalypse: Beauty and
to make his case for invading Iraq. Maureen Dowd wrote
Horror in Contemporary Art: “One major task of the artist
in The New York Times that, according to diplomats, the
is to say that, as human beings ourselves, we are all impli-
picture would have sent “too much of a mixed message …
cated. It is important that we do not look away and merely
Mr. Powell can’t very well seduce the world into bombing
take refuge in superficial beauty … We need to confront
Iraq surrounded on camera by shrieking and mutilated
and intangible elements of anxi-
women, men, children, bulls and horses.” 17 The suppres-
ety, hope and struggle, power and authority, projections
sion of art to facilitate war underscores the power of the
of good, evil, banalities and birthrights, processes of
image in today’s global media culture, even if the image
evil
visually.” 15 Tangible
Og2 Oakville Galleries
5
is a drawing, and not a photograph. To further reinforce
restricted journalists from reporting on the streets. “The
this point, on June 23, 2009, an Associated Press story on
Iranian government also tried to stop its citizens from
the Yahoo! News website reports that “Iran clamped down
spreading information. Internet service and cell phone
on independent media in an attempt to control images
service was intermittent, with long delays. Reporters were
of election protests, but pictures and videos leaked out
also restricted during the 1979 Iranian revolution, which
anyway — showing how difficult it is to shut off the flow
saw the installation of the Islamic regime in power today.
18
of information in the Internet age.” Social-networking
Government censors and the Internet have often clashed.”19
sites such as Twitter and Flickr became more prominent
One of the most iconic media images from the war
because of the government interventions. The U.S. State
in Iraq was a globally broadcast photograph of a hooded
Department, for example, called on Twitter to put off a
Iraqi prisoner at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, forced
scheduled maintenance shut-down following a massive
to stand on a box, naked except for a blanket, his hands
opposition rally in Iran on June 22, 2009 when authorities
outstretched, apparently wired, in front of his American
Althea Thauberger, Untitled (Ma’ Sum Ghar 1), 2009, colour photograph, 28.3 x 35.5 cm, courtesy of the artist.
Og2 Oakville Galleries
6
captors. This image revolted the world, and marked a turn-
The title of the exhibition is partially inspired by
ing point in public opinion about the war. Artist Richard
Les Diaboliques (1954), a classic French terror film direct-
Serra created a poster (Stop Bush, 2004) that re-works this
ed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, the title of which trans-
iconic image; it subsequently became a symbol for anti-
lates in English as “The Devils.” The women protagonists
war demonstrations and activities by artists in the U.S. in
are dubbed devils because they plot to murder a man
2004. The level of political protest by artists that year —
who has betrayed them. A revenge-fear classic, this
including posters, artworks, marches, actions, an Artforum
film recalls the ways white supremacists, including
issue dedicated to political protest and various fund-
the KKK and Aryan Nation, have projected their own
raising events, exceeded that during the American con-
histories of sexual aggression onto members of sub-
flict with Vietnam. The Iraq war continues to draw artist
ordinated groups as justification for further dominance
protests.20
In Diabolique, this is demonstrated pointedly
and violence. While combat is commonly seen as mas-
in the work of Raymond Pettibon and Patterson-Carver.
culine, is it really a male domain? Are men heroes in
By bringing several artists into the exhibit who reflect
war and women devils in the battle of the sexes? In
on the genre of left-wing art activism and protest, propa-
her essay, Reflections on feminism, war, and the politics
ganda or sloganeer art, rather than art “horror,” I am chal-
of dissent, Leslie Cagan describes war and feminism as
lenging viewers to think in different directions about the
being opposites of each other. “The horror and evil of
relationship between art, activism, protest, propaganda,
war can partly be understood in seeing just how much
and dread. Gregory Sholette, in his essay, Snip, Snip …
it stands in opposition to feminism and feminist princi-
Bang, Bang: Political Art, Reloaded, discusses the label
ples. All of the values of feminism are contradicted —
“political art” and how many galleries and museums were
if not rendered impossible to achieve — by the realities of
adverse to consider hosting such work in the 1980s. “Even-
war and the machinery of war-making.” 22 Cynthia Enloe
tually, museums bagged and tagged a limited number
discusses how definitions of masculinities and feminini-
of socially critical artworks. It was, however, a selective
ties are carved out and integral to the waging of war, and
assimilation that favored politically ambiguous work
how power will be wielded based on these definitions.
over the directly interventionist. Meanwhile, those col-
The use of violence in war to impose control and domi-
lectives that had been instrumental in forcing-open the
nation reinforces the traditional power men have had
question of art and politics — PAD/ D, Group Material,
over women. Yet, while feminists have long opposed
the Art Workers Coalition, Artists Meeting for Cultural
war’s destructive and futile fatalisms,23 who among us
Change, The Guerilla Art Action Group, Paper Tiger,
is exempt from the will to power?
SPARC, Carnival Knowledge — were unceremoniously
In Nancy Spero’s series of drawings, Vietnam War
submerged, partially or wholly, beneath the waves of
from the ‘60s, men are bombs. In Althea Thauberger’s
21
normative art history.” In bringing Perjovschi and out-
photograph, female Canadian military personnel climb
sider artist Patterson-Carver to the group, audiences
Ma’Sum mountain with smiles on their faces, seem-
can engage with these dissenting artists’ voices. Pre-
ingly victorious and almost relaxed despite their roles
viously on the outskirts or margins of society owing to
in Afghanistan. In Diabolique, the art works show that
socio-economic and/or political circumstance, they are,
gender is not necessarily a basis for explosive definitions
today, validated within a contemporary gallery con-
of those who impose, invoke or are victims of violence
text. As political activists, their work contains witty ele-
and diabolical action. On the other hand, several artists
ments: indeed, the cartoon nature of their work frames
summon the visual emblem of the phallus as weapon
their satiric observations within a traditionally comical
and tool for destruction, including the drawing by Balint
discourse. All “political” subject matter — whether it is
Zsako that blends man, machine, gun for penis and penis
the former Bush administration or other world affairs —
for gun; the romance novel interventions by Scott Waters
is fair game for these artists.
in which erect weapons overlay couples entwined in
Og2 Oakville Galleries
7
Harlequin bliss; and Rebecca Belmore’s totem pole,
game violence æsthetics in his paintings. Fawad Khan’s
wrapped in torn camouflage material. Taking it a step
flameless explosions also hint towards video game enter-
further, emerging Regina artist Jason Thiry uses imagery
tainment — violence that is harmless, even attractive
from pornographic magazines interlaced within cam-
or sublime, yet disarmingly so. Matilda Aslizadeh’s Hero
ouflage pattern. Thiry’s blend of porn and war demon-
of Our Time (2008) also draws on video game æsthetics,
strates how both industries use extreme male and female
and relies on the classic fall and redemption narrative.
body images as weapons of consumer-seduction. In 2007,
Symbols of war and violence — the visual language of
an exhibition entitled Love/War/Sex was held at Exit
war — appear in many of the images in Diabolique. Such
Art in New York. The paradoxical title demonstrates how
symbols and metaphors include the skull, the cross,
war is central to human coupling, pulling together a
helicopters and tanks, the swastika, the phallus/gun,
powerful cocktail of emotions, passions and idealistic
and much more.
convictions. There is a connection between “longing and
Stepping into immersive fictional narrative and filmic
violence and love with war, imagining the business of
videos and animations based on historical events by
war in all its sensual manifestations.”
24
high-profile artists Shirin Neshat and William Kentridge,
Weapons used as toys by boys and girls is a cul-
audiences will be delivered into new worlds of nostalgia,
tural practice explored by several artists in the exhibi-
memory, sounds, places, pockets of terror, class, power
tion including Douglas Coupland, who has reproduced
and authority, heirarchy and surrealism, and lessons learnt
a giant-size genetically-modified toy solider; Dana
and lost. These stories, while perhaps not as confronta-
Claxton, who repetitively pulls on the trigger of a plas-
tional as the Jake & Dinos Chapman’s War skull (2004),
tic toy gun; and Mario Doucette, who explores video
or Cross on bomb (1968) by Nancy Spero, nevertheless
Mario Doucette, Monckton, 2008, pastel, ink, pencil and acrylic on wood, 66.0 x 122.0 cm, courtesy of Andrew and Lyndal Walker, Toronto.
Og2 Oakville Galleries
8
illustrate how the power of violence can seep into the
drown in a river, completing the full cycle of violence
sub-consciousness in other, long-lasting and psycho-
through which history — and ignorance — repeats itself.
logically damaging ways. Diabolique offers a wide scan
Historical icons and perpetrators of violence, ranging
of how violence has been carried out over the ages —
from Hitler to the Ku Klux Klan, Napoleon, Mussolini and
whether it be traditional, romantic or even biblical: bow
Bush Junior and Senior are invoked and impaled. We see
and arrow or stoning, as seen in Balint Zsako’s collage
others who populate the world of violence, war and terror:
figures cut from Renaissance painting reproductions in
Kosovo refugees from the 1990s by Bogdan Achimescu,
books; through stark black and white images of dictator-
front-line soldiers and various manifestations of their
ship and execution; ethnic cleansing through colonial
“family” unit, innocent victims, women and children,
pillaging and burning of Acadian villages; gas masks,
parents, concerned citizens.
tanks and airplanes during the Italian-Abyssinian war
Diabolique was inspired by a post-September-11
of 1935; suicide and protest in the 1953 coup d’état in
world, whatever that might mean given that the events
which the CIA reinstalled the Shah of Iran; grenades
took place on the anniversary of the terrorist coup in
used in the Vietnam War in the 1970s; car bombs used
Chile, orchestrated in 1973 by the government of the
today in Karachi, Istanbul, Baghdad, Kabul, New Delhi,
United States. I was in New York on the most recent 9/11
or Bali; or prisoners being left to freeze in the snow or
spectacle and witnessed the events and their aftermath
Nancy Spero, Helicopter, Eagle, (Magnet), Victim, 1968, gouache and ink on paper, 62.0 x 100.3 cm,
courtesy of Galerie LeLong, New York, GL 6302.
Og2 Oakville Galleries
9
(“it felt like a movie,” rather than “it felt like a dream” 25).
own backyard, I still felt quite removed from it, helpless.
The city became a macabre gallery, like Diabolique, filled
Was the power of this event for me partly manifested
with an eclectic mix of devilish dioramas, and narratives
through the channels of the media? After all, my reality
influenced by human conflict, torture, the grotesque,
of the event, despite close proximity, was still charged
masks, hybrids, and surreal scenes that might recall
by the media — somewhat disillusioning. Baudrillard
Goya’s Disasters of War (1810–1820) or Dante’s Inferno
remarked several decades ago that “we live in a world
(1308–1321). Does my proximity to the visibility of the
where there is more and more information, and less
September 11 event mean that this event was more tragic
and less meaning.” 26 Sontag calls this a “pornographic
and diabolical for me? How close or distant does one
appetite for suffering.” 27 Why was this event, in this back-
have to be to violent events in order to feel a sense of
yard, rendered more powerful for some of us than other
horror, shock or loss? Ironically, when I was in New York,
violent events in other backyards? The power of the
surrounded by the chaos of September 11, everyone ran
media to render certain violent events more “diabolical”
to television screens and turned on radios in order to
than others is at play here. Winnipeg artist Wanda Koop
find out what was happening. I recall sitting in my hotel
explores similar ideas in her Green Zone series of paint-
room in midtown Manhattan, staring frozen at the TV
ings in Diabolique, inspired by watching TV distortions of
screen news reports, and thinking how strange and hor-
the Iraq war this decade, similar to Martha Rosler’s inspi-
rible it was, that while this event was happening in my
ration from Vietnam War footage on television in the ‘70s.
Scott Waters, Badland, 2009, acrylic on book cover, 16.9 x 10.0 x 2.5 cm, courtesy of the artist.
Og2 Oakville Galleries
10
More and more people are traveling to trauma zones,
in Rwanda and Nazi death camps in Central Europe.” 28
it seems, in efforts to understand the dynamics that
The article also quotes Philip Stone, a senior lecturer
produce them. As Emanuel Licha attempts to show in
with the University of Central Lancashire in England, who
his video documentary, War Tourist (2004–2008) in which
is studying the phenomenon of “trauma” tourism. Stone
he travels from the Auschwitz concentration camp to
says that visitors have mixed motives for visiting such
New Orleans post-Katrina to the nuclear-bomb site of
sites: some come to remember and pay tribute (or to see
Chernobyl, and as an article in the Globe and Mail dated
what they have seen in the movies), but for many, visiting
November 5, 2008, reports, tourists are now flocking to
such memorials is a socially acceptable way to confront
sites of suffering and even into war zones. Laszlo Buhasz
the most destructive aspects of human nature. Death has
explores this desire to pay tribute to and look death in
been abstracted in our culture and moved out of (com-
the face. He says “tour buses keep rolling into sites asso-
fortable) everyday discussion — death hides in hospitals
ciated with death and suffering: the Killing Fields of Cam-
and funeral parlours. Perhaps visiting sites like this can
bodia, New York’s ground zero, the genocide memorials
make death and mortality feel more tangible. In reality,
Balint Zsako, Untitled, 2007, watercolour and ink on paper, 45.0 x 60.0, courtesy of the artist.
Og2 Oakville Galleries
11
however, we never have to travel very far to experience
and Charlotte Saloman. Their essay carefully juxtaposed
death and suffering, if we seek to be aware of the oper-
these great masters with the work of contemporary artists
ations of violence in our midst.
in the exhibition, from Wolfgang Tillmans to Tim Noble &
Diabolique draws inspiration from the exhibition
Sue Webster, Richard Prince, Gregor Schneidor and many
Apocalypse: Beauty and Horror in Contemporary Art,
more. Another exhibition, Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery /
co-curated by Norman Rosenthal and Max Wigram for
Recent Art, curated by Norman L. Kleeblatt in 2002 for
the Royal Academy of Arts, London, on display from
the Jewish Museum in New York, has also provided rich
September 23 – December 15, 2000.29 Two of the artists in
ground for inspiration and contemplation.
Diabolique, Jake and Dinos Chapman, were in this same
In the foreword to the exhibition catalogue Mirror-
exhibition. The intriguing aspect of the London exhibition —
ing Evil: Nazi Imagery / Recent Art, James E. Young asks
apart from the drama, and the way that the theatrical and
some provocative questions about how viewers’ atten-
the heightened sense of suspense were crafted by the
tion might be directed: “Where are the limits of taste
curators — was the manner in which the artists confronted
and irony in art that portrays terror? Must a depraved
horror, both present and past. The artists were fearless,
crime lead to depraved artistic response? Can art mirror
risk-taking and bold in their statements. The curators
evil, and remain free of evil’s stench? By including some
thoughtfully situated their project in relation to such varied
powerful and violent images in their work, are artists
sources such as Titian, Caravaggio, Goya, Bruegel, Beuys,
somehow affirming and extending them, even as they
Matilda Aslizadeh, Hero of our Time (still), 2008, DVD (19 mins.), courtesy of the artist.
Og2 Oakville Galleries
12
intend mainly to critique them and our connection to
Rwanda, 2003, Canada: Random House, p. 7
them? Perhaps this ambiguity between affirmation and
“Working With Them …” in Living Pictures: Wo/Men in Uniform
criticism is part of the artists’ goal.” 30
by Sylvie Blocher, 2008, Regina, SK: Dunlop Art Gallery, p. 19
10
The artists in Diabolique appeal to our hearts, minds
and senses. Some are political activists. Others are cap-
9
Sylvie Blocher,
Norman Rosenthal, Apocalypse: Beauty and Horror in Contem11
porary Art, Royal Academy of Arts: London, 2000, p. 22
Philip
Monk, “Violence and Representation” in Struggles with the Image,
tivated by nightmarish experiences, terror and horror,
1988, Toronto: YYZ Books, p. 29
the links between weapons and toys. Still others wish
Pain of Others, 2003, New York: Picador Press, p. 40
to illuminate the mistakes of the past, admitting guilt,
Young, “Foreword: Looking Into the Mirrors of Evil” in Mirroring
12
Susan Sontag, Regarding the
13
James E.
without guaranteeing or even requesting forgiveness.
Evil: Nazi Imagery / Recent Art, 2002, New York: Jewish Museum,
Perhaps the contemporary art in Diabolique gathers
p. xvi
together symbolic wars that partake of struggle and carnival — battles that bring people together before divisive
14
Elaine Scarry, The Body in Pain: The Making and Un-
making of the World, New York: Oxford University Press, 1985,
p. 3
15
Norman Rosenthal, Apocalypse: Beauty and Horror in
Contemporary Art, London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2000, p. 19
yet collective weaknesses for atrocity. These artists are
16
“best positioned to affect our knowledge by confronting
1991 (catalogue essay) http://home.earthlink.net/~navva/reviews/
us with a synthesis of new and often shocking realities.”31
cottingham.html (Accessed July 10, 2009)
Like the poetry of Aime Cesaire, these visual works of art
“Why Media Æsthetics?” Critical Inquiry, 30 (Winter 2004): 393
embody and illuminate blood, pain, fury, rage, destruction,
protest, and outcry.32 They are also talismans, memorials,
(anti-)monuments, and shrines. Lest we forget.
18
Laura Cottingham, The War is Always Home: Martha Rosler,
17
Miriam Hansen,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090617/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran
_election_media_2 (Accessed June 26, 2009)
19
ibid.
20
Toni
Burlap, “The Euclidean Triangle” in Whitney Biennial 2006: Day
For Night, New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 2006,
p. 42
21
Gregory Sholette, Snip, Snip … Bang, Bang: Political Art,
Amanda Cachia was employed at the Dunlop Art Gallery from
Reloaded, www.gregorysholette.com/writings/writing_index.html
2007–2010, where she most recently held the position of Director/
(Accessed June 20, 2009)
Curator. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Visual and Critical
feminism, war, and the politics of dissent” in Feminism and War:
Studies from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.
This essay originally appeared in the exhibition catalogue for
Diabolique. It appears here in edited form to reflect the exhibi-
Leslie Cagan, “Reflections on
Confronting U.S. Imperialism, edited by Robin L. Riley, Chandra
Talpade Mohanty, and Minnie Bruce Pratt, London and New York:
Zed Books, 2008, p. 252
23
Ibid., 252.
24
[email protected]
and www.exitart.org (Dated December 2007 / January 2008)
tion’s presentation at Oakville Galleries.
1
22
25
Our
world is a media-saturated one — we no longer have to ‘imagine’
Clayton Eshleman & Annette Smith, Translated with an Introduc-
what it would be like to be in a warzone, because our lives revolve
tion and Notes by, The Collected Poetry: Aime Cesaire, University
around the imaginary world of cinema and film instead. Susan
of California Press: Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, 1983, p. 291
Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others, 2003, p. 22
2
Simulacra and Simulation, 1994, Ann Arbor: The University of
According to a CBC report from November, 2006, Saskatchewan
27
26
Baudrillard,
had more homicides per capita than any other province in 2005,
Michigan Press, p. 79
according to figures released by Statistics Canada. The federal
Others, 2003, New York: Picador, p. 41
agency examined police reports for the year and tallied up 43 cases
ling to the dark side” in The Globe and Mail, November 2, 2008
of murder, manslaughter or infanticide in the province. That
29
gave it a rate of 4.33 homicides per 100,00 people — double the
theme of war as crucible for exploration. That Was Then … This is
national average of 2.04 homicides per 100,000 people.
3
www.dick
shovel.com/covertwar.html (Accessed June 20, 2009)
4
Fred
Sontag, Susan, Regarding the Pain of
28
Laszlo Buhasz, “Travel-
Many other exhibitions around the world have addressed the
Now at P.S.1, New York, 2008, curated by Director Alanna Heiss
was divided into three core themes of Flags,Weapons and Dreams;
Moten, “Black Mo’nin” in Loss, edited by David L. Eng and David
Signals in the Dark: Art in the Shadow of War, 2008, was curated
Kazanjian, 2003, Regents of the University of California, p. 59
by Seamus Kealy for Blackwood Gallery, Mississauga, Toronto;
5
6 Amanda
Robert Storr’s Venice Biennale, Think with the Senses — Feel with
Cachia, Foreword, Diabolique, 2009, Regina, SK: Dunlop Art Gallery,
the Mind: Art in the Present Tense, 2007; Brave New Worlds, was
www.stonechildinquiry.ca (Accessed June 20, 2009)
p. X
7
Gertrude Kearns in “The Art of War: Steeped in modern
conflict, artist portrays historic warriors”, by Anthony Reinhart,
8
co-curated by Doryun Chong and Yasmil Raymond for the Walker
Art Center, Minneapolis, 2007–2008; War Zones, was co-curated
L Gen. Romeo
by Karen Henry and Karen Love, 1999 at Presentation House,
Dallaire, Shake Hands With The Devil: The Failure of Humanity in
Vancouver; numerous Whitney Biennials in New York, and At War,
The Globe and Mail, October 29, 2008, p. A7
Og2 Oakville Galleries
13
for the Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona, Spain,
to become aware of our motives for gazing on such art, or our
was curated by a team composed of Antonio Monegal, Francesc
own need to look evil in the face even as we are repelled by what
Torres and Jose Maria Ridao in 2004. Reaching back further
we see …” James E. Young, “Foreword: Looking into the Mir-
historically, the exhibition A Different War was produced by the
rors of Evil”, in Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery / Recent Art, curat-
Whatcom Museum of History and Art in 1990 and circulated by
ed by Norman L. Kleeblatt, 2002, New York: Jewish Museum,
ICI across the U.S. It was accompanied by a catalogue with text
p. xvii
by Lucy R. Lippard. This exhibition was the first critical exami-
Contemporary Art, London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2000, p. 22
nation of the impact of the Vietnam War on American art of the
32
past twenty-five years since 1990.
30
“While this work may
31
Norman Rosenthal, Apocalypse: Beauty and Horror in
Sunera Thobani, War Frenzy, Centre for Research on Global-
ization, 28 October 2001.
seem offensive on the surface, the artist may also ask, is the
imagery itself that offends, or is it the artists’ æsthetic manipulations of such imagery? Does such art become a victim of
the imagery it depicts? Or does it tap into and thereby exploit
The presentation of this exhibition has been made possible in
the repugnant power of diabolic imagery as a way to merely
part through a contribution from the Department of Canadian
shock and move its viewers? Or is it both? Perhaps we need
Heritage.
Og2 Oakville Galleries
14