transformed visions facing history

The Tate Modern is holding an intriguing and fascinating exhibition called 'Transformed Visions Facing History' (located on Level 3, room 9) that present both Leon Golub and Hrair Sarkissian's artworks that bring together two bodies of work that confront violence and atrocities of contemporary war and civil society. This major exhibition gives a first opportunity in London to explore their responses to the theme of violence and also a glimpse of each artist respectively.

Celebrating 25 years of the Tate Americas Foundations' endowment, courtesy of Ulrich and Harriet Meyer.

'Vietnam II' (1973) by Leon Golub illustrates the confrontation of immoral destructiveness of violence, Leon Golub was an American painter that also received considerable attention through exhibiting other paintings of his period during enlisting in the US Army. - (Bryant, 2013, http://www.tate.org.uk) Vietnam II has been done by acrylic on linen (over three metres high and more than twelve metres long) which visually show a huge impact on him reflected by the ambitious decision to work on such a huge scale. The rough brush strokes give a strong and unsettling movement to the painting which purposely show a significant meaning behind the harshness of the Vietnam War, the white and black assets used is very contrasting and so it's very bold and brings the imagery of the struggle and obstacles both American soldiers and the Vietnamese community face. 

‘Unlike traditional history painting, in which the historical referent frames and conditions the viewer’s understanding, Golub’s historical project is closer to that of Goya ... whose political “message” problematizes historical responsibility’ - Jon Bird (Bird, p.57). Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) - (Taylor, 2004, http://www.tate.org.uk)

'Execution Squares' by Hrair Sarkissian is a series of photographs of three Syrian cities – Aleppo, Lattakia and Damascus. - (Sarkissian, 2008, http://www.hrairsarkissian.com) Taken in the early morning hours (the time the executions usually take place) the deserted images reveal a fragile paradox that exists between the beauty and constancy of the physical urban environment and the political and social realities that they experience. Sarkissian demonstrates the aftermath of each city with a clear and consistent format similarly to all eight photographs with the same palette of colour and composition which shows the depth of space he is in.

It was very interesting to view two different mediums that therefore portray in many levels of feelings, both physically and psychologically. The way I felt sympathy towards both artworks, by the sunrise highlighting the architecture and the lifeless city from Sarikissian's photographs, such powerful imagery that speaks for itself. I felt very empty by visualising myself in that enivonment Golub's work gave such a powerful impact to me by the expression of the afraid and haunted Vietnamese people, it makes viewers imagine such a life changing and horrible experience. This is a strong exhibition that will automatically draw the viewers in due to the large scale and reflects the past that we only read about and never experience.

Bibliography

• Tate Modern 30/09/13
• Bryant, Edward. (2013) Leon Golub: Artist Biography. [online] London. Tate. Available at (http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/leon-golub-2207) (Accessed 30/09/13))
• Taylor, Rachel. (2004) Vietnam II Summary. [online] London. Tate. Available at (http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/golub-vietnam-ii-t13702/text-summary) (Accessed 30/09/13)
•  Sarkissian, Hrair. (2008) Execution Squares. [online] Available at (http://www.hrairsarkissian.com/Portfolio/Pages/Execution_Squares.html) (Accessed 30/09/13)