The American artist Leon Golub (1922-2004) is best known for his iconic history paintings of mercenaries; interrogations; torture and riots of the 1980s and early 90s. He increasingly explored the effects of power upon the body through facial expression; gesture and pose; investing his dramatic pictorial scenes with psychological tension and depth through the visual exchange between depicted characters and the viewer. Golubs source material always derived from media representations: of how the look of power is mediated through the camera lens; a process which is inflected by the interests of elite cultures; whether political; military or social. It was during the 1970s that the look of power became dominant in his series of political portraits of heads of state; corporate; military and religious leaders. Golub produced over 100 roughly life-size portraits; often depicting an individual at various stages of his public office - all visual narratives of arrogance and venality traced across the visage of powerful men.
2016-12-30 2016-12-30File Name: B01MT4F60I
Review
