gods of
the frontier
Sea Frontier, 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 130 cm. 1/5
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 120 cm.
Benefactor 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 130 cm.
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 120 cm.
Men and God, 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 130 cm.
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 120 cm.
War, 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 72 cm.
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 62 cm.
Voyeur, 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 90 cm.
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 80 cm.
Triplet, 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 72 cm.
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 62 cm.
Godfather, 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 72 cm.
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 62 cm.
Antígona, 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 72 cm.
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 62 cm.
A Souvenir, 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 112 cm.
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 102 cm.
Heaven´s Door, 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 127,5 cm.
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 117,5 cm.
Play it again, 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 120 cm.
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 110 cm.
My Way, 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 90 cm.
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 80 cm.
A Muse, 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 126,5 cm.
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 116,5 cm.
Iniciation, 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 135 cm.
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 125 cm.
In The Rain, 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 135 cm.
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 125 cm.
Divinity, 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 90 cm.
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 80 cm.
Iniciation, 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 135 cm.
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 125 cm.
Rapide, 2020.
Woodcut on Japanese Okawara paper, 90 x 135 cm.
Hand carved wood and black ink, 80 x 125 cm.
Sea Frontier, 2020.
Xilografía sobre papel japonés Okawara, 90 x 124 cm.
Madera tallada a mano y tinta negra, 80 x 113,5 cm.
Benefactor 2020.
Xilografía sobre papel japonés Okawara, 90 x 130 cm.
Madera tallada a mano y tinta negra, 80 x 120 cm.
Men and God, 2020.
Xilografía sobre papel japonés Okawara, 90 x 130 cm.
Madera tallada a mano y tinta negra, 80 x 120 cm.
War 2020.
Xilografía sobre papel japonés Okawara, 90 x 72 cm.
Madera tallada a mano y tinta negra, 80 x 62 cm.
Voyuer, 2020.
Xilografía sobre papel japonés Okawara, 90 x 90 cm.
Madera tallada a mano y tinta negra, 80 x 80 cm.
Triplet, 2020.
Xilografía sobre papel japonés Okawara, 90 x 72 cm.
Madera tallada a mano y tinta negra, 80 x 56,5 cm.
Godfather, 2020.
Xilografía sobre papel japonés Okawara, 90 x 72 cm.
Madera tallada a mano y tinta negra, 80 x 53 cm.
Antígona, 2020.
Xilografía sobre papel japonés Okawara, 90 x 72 cm.
Madera tallada a mano y tinta negra, 80 x 53,5 cm.
A Souvenir, 2020.
Xilografía sobre papel japonés Okawara, 90 x 122 cm.
Madera tallada a mano y tinta negra, 80 x 112 cm.
Heaven´s Door, 2020.
Woodcut on Okawara Japanese paper, 90 x 127,5 cm.
Carved wood and ink, 80 x 117,5 cm.
Play it again, 2020.
Woodcuts on Okawara Japanese paper, 90 x 120 cm.
Carved wood and ink, 80 x 110 cm.
My way, 2020.
Xilografía sobre papel japonés Okawara, 90 x 90 cm.
Madera tallada a mano y tinta negra, 80 x 80 cm.
A Muse, 2020.
Xilografía sobre papel japonés Okawara, 90 x 116,5 cm.
Madera tallada a mano y tinta negra, 80 x 106 cm.
Icons of this side, 2020.
Xilografía sobre papel japonés Okawara, 90 x 108 cm.
Madera tallada a mano y tinta negra, 80 x 118 cm.
In the rain, 2020.
Xilografía sobre papel japonés Okawara, 90 x 135 cm.
Madera tallada a mano y tinta negra, 80 x 125 cm.
Divinity, 2020.
Xilografía sobre papel japonés Okawara, 90 x 90 cm.
Madera tallada a mano y tinta negra, 80 x 80 cm.
Iniciation, 2020.
Xilografía sobre papel japonés Okawara, 90 x 120 cm.
Madera tallada a mano y tinta negra, 80 x 110 cm.
Rapide, 2020.
Woodcuts on Okawara Japanese paper, 90 x 135 cm.
Carved wood and ink, 80 x 125 cm.
Artist book. Ed. 250. 42 pp. 30 x 23,5 cm. Design Clara Sancho.
Process
GODS OF THE FRONTIER; Towards a Biology of Images
I am interested to stop talking about the big issues, the war and historical events in Lebanon, in order to focus on how its society behaves since acquiring independence from the French mandate in the 40s of the last century, up till the outbreak civil war breaks out in 1975. To do this, I have chosen images from the collections that the Arab Image Foundation treasures in their Beirut headquarters: the archives of the newspaper An-Naharand the
photographer Emile Boulos Divers.
The photographic images chosen from the archives portray individuals and are susceptible to being read as a symbolic key from the social archetype they represent. Each one is the object-subject from which my analysis of the imaginary of a society with a collective identity starts. Individuals who offer
revealing poses before the photographer, with an intentionality that shows, through conscious and unconscious elements, the world they inhabit as they interpret it: the happy girl in her family environment, the sensual couple in love, walking in front of the sea, the male body as a god-like icon, the proud father of his young child, the saviour, the caretaker, ... they bear witness to the archetypal events and themes that articulate their life: death, creation, revenge, family, desire, struggle, puberty...
They are the psychological archetypes that make up a collectivity. Day-to-day images, all with a disturbing element through which we can scrutinize
signs that reveal references about Lebanon and its society. The images are not of interest per se, nor is it sought to highlight their photographic quality,
which is evident in all of them. The sole purpose of the exercise is to identify the aspirational and self-defining symbology of a historical moment in the
society of that fascinating and complex country that is Lebanon.
