Art

French painter Eugène Delacroix’s famous chef d’oeuvre “Liberty leading the people” which celebrated the Parisian revolution of 1830 against Charles X

The Syrian Conflict has by now produced what UN officials are describing as the worst humanitarian disaster in decades. In the face of this tragic development, words, my words in particular, grew increasingly hollow. I needed to find other means to express my… thoughts, for I can no longer speak of feelings, if I ever could. But, since I cannot paint, and I am not on the scene to resort to photography, thank heavens for Photoshop, and Eugène Delacroix.

For though I have always found “Liberty leading the people” to be too reverential and celebratory, I was still fascinated by it. Faced with my current inability to articulate my thoughts in words, I turned to this particular work for inspiration. The idea has been bustling in mind for years, but only now, did I muster enough energy and focus to pursue it. After two years and more than 6500 attempts at deconstruction, I finally settled on 40 works that seem to capture my thoughts both in terms of their composition and the technique used.

So here I am, a person who cannot paint, and who is far from being a Photoshop expert, making a claim, no matter how tentatively, to being an artist. But then: why not? That’s how everything in my life began: with an uncertain tentative step.  Or, a series of them.

Understanding the artworks in this collection requires a certain familiarity with the original painting by Delacroix, especially what each portrayed character is meant to represent. Watching this video might help, so will this description on the Louvre Website.

The L&R Gallery: Atrium | Syria Hall | Beacon Hall | Lazarus’ Hall | Zombie Hall | Victory Hall | Metamorphosis Hall | Fields Hall