Untitled

Under a bundle of chaotic elements lies a wounded being exhaling a last cry of suffering. With this painting and his other works, Iraqi-born artist Ahmed Alsoudani, who lives in exile in the United States, is authoring an oeuvre imbued with great visual force that manifests his desire to retain a sense of continuity with the history of 20th century art.

This artwork is reminiscent of Cubism's dynamic investigations but also of the frenetic manner of artists such as Arshile Gorky and Francis Bacon. It is part of a series of paintings in which the artist explores his explosive world, artfully mixing painting and charcoal drawing. His troubling and craftily bundled compositions require extra attention from the viewer in order to fully grasp their violence, that of a war and its extremes that may or not be timeless.

Held in the Pinault Collection, Untitled and the accompanying series were presented in the group show À Triple tour. Collection Pinault (“triple locked”) at the Paris Conciergerie, in 2013.