The Split of Life

"The Split of Life" is a series of over 80 mural size oil paintings by Nabil Kanso. The paintings span a period from 1974 to 1994, and deal with contemporary and historical issues of war and violence. [Nabil Kanso: The Split of Life Paintings: 1974-1994, NEV Editions, Atlanta, GA, 1996]

Development and description

The subject of war in Kanso’s work began during 1972-74 in New York when he did a series of paintings and drawings [The Split of Life, p.13] [Brown, Gordon: “Kanso’s Drawing,” Arts Magazine, June, 1972] on the Vietnam War. After a brief pause, [The Split of Life, p.12, Kanso’s studio was seized in 1974, and most of his art works were placed in storage, and, eventually, destroyed] he started in 1975 the Lebanon war series evoked by the civil war that broke out in his native land. [Fox, Catherine: “Artist Inspired by War-Torn Homeland,” Atlanta Journal/Constitution, pp. H1-3, July, 8, 1984.] The intersection of the two series reflecting similarity in composition, scale, style and theme provided the framework for a larger series whose underlying theme formed the basis of "the Split of Life" series in encompassing several other series dealing with war. [Erminy, Peran: “The Apocalyptic Paintings of Nabil Kanso,” El Nacional, pp. 2-3, Caracas, 1987. Online http://nabilkanso.org/erminy.html] [Bäckström, “Guernica of Our Time” Ord & Bild, pp. 42-45, January, 1986 Stockholm, Sweden]

"The Split of Life series" delineates two periods: 1974-85 and 1986-94. The works of the first period are characterized by the use of warm colors dominated by red, orange, yellow and black, and the depiction of compositions in which masses of figures occupy the entire surface plane. [The Split of Life, p.9] Among the series in the period are the Vietnam, Lebanon, One-Minute, (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) and Time Suspended in Space (South Africa) series. The works of the 1986-94 period depict compositions that divide the canvas in 2 or more sections depicting figures painted in dark blue and black within an enclosure of red and orange surrounded by a white space. [Wehner, Rob, The Bloomsbury Review, p. 6, July/August, 1998, the author points out that the use of “White seems to pierce the canvas and gives the paintings the balance and strength they need to grasp the emotions Kanso tried to convey.”] Among the series in this period are the Cluster Matter, Glory and Cruelty, and Living Memory (Auschwitz) series. It is suggested that most of the "Split of Life" paintings are recessive in the upper center, and somewhat bilaterally symmetrical. This division is often in the form of a face placed against a V form. The violence seems to deploy itself towards that opening so that the center is dominated by a mother of war, a kali-figure. [Sondheim, Alan: “Nabil Kanso’s Split of Life paintings,” Conference, Nexus Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, October, 1985, online excerpts: http://nabilkanso.com/sondheim.html]

Exhibitions

Between 1983 and 1993, a wide range of paintings from various phases of "The Split of Life" series were exhibited a various art centers in Argentina [Centro Cultural de Buenos Aires, 1989] Brazil [Museo de Arte de Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, 1989, Museo de Arte de Santa, Florionopolis, 1991] Mexico, [Museo del Chopo, D.F.,1990,] Panama, [Instituto Nacional de Cultura, 1988] Korea, [Galerie Bahk, Seoul, 1993] Kuwait, [Free Atelier, Kuwait, 1991-92] Sweden [Malmo Konstall, 1986] , Switzerland [Musee de la Croix Rouge, Geneve, 1993] and Venezuela, [Sala Arraga, Maracaibo, 1985, Ateneo de Caracas,1987, Sala Tulio Febres Cordero, Merida, 1987] The exhibitions were the subject of articles, essays, poems, conferences, and peace projects. [A selection of various published texts online: http://apocalipsis.us/articulos.html] [ [http://nabilkanso.org/texts.html Articles and essays on nabil kanso's art ] ] [Jimenez, Maritza: “A Museum of Art for Peace proposes Nabil Kanso,” El Nacional, August 25, 1987, Caracas] In Venezuela, installations were featured as part of the Second Ibero-American Symposium held in Caracas in 1987, [Universidad Central de Venezuela: “Arte por la Paz” Catalogue, 1987, Caracas] the International Encounter for Peace in Merida in 1988. [Universidad de los Andes: “Arte por la Paz” Catalogue, 1988, Merida] The paintings displayed in different exhibitions were viewed as reflecting a sense of “over-all-ness, of one painting running into another.” [Kurlansky, Gail: “Nabil Kanso’s Split of Life: Looking for the Poet: Power, Death and Sexuality,” Art Papers, p. 25, 1986] It is remarked that the magnitude of the paintings place the viewer in the midst of a violent cage. Their synchrony and diachronic cross a still point in which the show is no longer a total of several pieces, but only one painting. [Figueroa, Hugo: “Nabil Kanso’s Paintings,” Panorama, p.6, April 28, 1985, Maracaibo, refers to the exhibition featuring 27 paintings spanning a period from 1976 to 1984, online text: http://nabilkanso.org/figueroa.html] Some critics point to a sense of entrapment [Fuenmayor, Carlos: “Time Cries, Space Cries” La Columna, pp. 8-9, May 21, 1987, Maracaibo, text online http://nabilkanso.org/fuenmayor.html] in which standing in the central space surrounded by Kanso’s 12-foot-high paintings is as close as you get to being in the middle of a fire. [Fox, Catherine: “Fantastic Visions,” The Atlanta Journal/Constitution, p. H3, September 19, 1985] The horrors appear to burst out of the canvases bringing the viewer face to face with scenes reflecting a continuum of war and violence occurring in our time and space. [Erminy, Peran, “The Apocalyptic Paintings of Nabil Kanso” El Nacional, pp2-3, April 26, 1987, Caracas, online excerpt: http://nabilkanso.org/erminy.html]

References

External links

* [http://splitoflife.com The Split of Life]
* [http://worksforpeace.com/works.html Works]
* [http://america500years.com America series]