Asad Faulwell

Los Angeles, CA

April 1 - 30, 2019

Artist Statement

My current body of work depicts female combatants from the Algerian War of Independence. Inspired by Gillo Pontecorvo’s “The Battle of Algiers” these pieces attempt to show how these women were both aggressors and victims, victimized by both their French adversaries and their male Algerian comrades. All of the figures are painted in grisaille or with a metallic pointillist application and are intended to appear more as historical monuments then as living women. The painted backgrounds reference patterning that might be found in religious artwork or in that commissioned by a monarch. This is intended to raise these women out of anonymity and into the spotlight, placing an aura importance around them. All works in this series are titled “Les Femmes D’Alger” in reference to the works by Delacroix and Picasso. While the anonymous women in the Delacroix and Picasso works were depicted as sexual objects in an Orientalist scene the women in my paintings defy simple classification and are depicted as saints, criminals, aggressors and victims.

Artist Links

Artist website: http://asad-faulwell.com/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/asadfaulwell/