Artist

Leon Golub

L’Homme Brûlé V

1961, oil on canvas. Private collection. © The Nancy Spero e Leon Golub Foundation for the Arts

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“The creative act is a moral commitment transcending any formalistic disengagement” is the phrase that closed the manifesto drafted by Leon Golub for his first solo exhibition in New York in 1954. In stark contrast to Abstract Expressionism, a movement then in vogue, Golub rejected the cultural tempers of the time that put aesthetics before ethics. Inspired by primitive paintings and Dubuffet’s Art Brut, Golub is among the first artists to choose to deal with the dark side of human history: the barbarities committed under fascism, the World Wars, the violence of political power and terrorism. The work exhibited here is part of a series that Golub produced on two occasions, in 1954-55 and 1961-62. Referring to victims of concentration camps, L’Homme Brûlé V (Burnt Man V), presents a defined figure upon which the paint surface is eroded and flayed in a manner often adopted by Golub, who applied and removed colour several times with cleavers. In doing so, he achieved a pockmarked effect that translated the agony of the subjects portrayed. Golub’s paintings are a sort of test for viewers as they force them to take a stand, and to not remain indifferent in front of the atrocities of history.

Leon Golub (1922, Chicago, US – 2004, New York, US) was an American painter whose practice explored the complex dynamics of political power and violence over bodies. After studying art history at the University of Chicago at the turn of World War II, he joined the Monster Roster group, a Chicago-based circle of artists involved in social criticism and influenced by Surrealism and primitive art. He has had solo exhibitions at MET Breuer, New York, USA (2018); Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy (2017); Serpentine Gallery, London, UK (2015); The Drawing Center, New York, USA (2010). His work was exhibited at the 50th Venice Art Biennale (2003); at Documenta XI (2002), Documenta 8 (1987), and Documenta 3 (1964). He has won numerous awards including The Ford Foundation Grant (1960); Guggenheim Foundation Grant (1968); and several honorary doctorates from colleges and universities. In 1995 Golub and his wife, artist Nancy Spero, won the 3rd Hiroshima Art Prize.