2020
130 x 80 cm, oil on canvas, 2020
“2020” is a surreal metaphor for the human condition during the global pandemic. How else to describe the past year other than surreal? Seemingly overnight, the entire fabric of daily life has been turned upside down. The pandemic has demonstrated the fragility of our world. It has laid bare risks we have ignored for decades: inadequate health systems, gaps in social protection, structural inequalities, environmental degradation, and the climate crisis. The pandemic is an unprecedented wake-up call to question our mode of life and its impact on our very survival.
The painting depicts a man’s body submerged in the endless purple waters of what seems to be a tiled swimming pool, with only one hand visible above the surface. The hand rests on the elbow of the left arm. Its peaceful gesture builds a contrast with the violent swirls of water in the foreground. The violet “sea” dominates the picture. A sense of claustrophobia pervades the composition as water surrounds the body on all sides. The high horizon line marks the boundary between the dark and the luminous sky with a mystical ring of light and an ethereal cloud hovering above the water’s surface.
The work focuses on humanity’s helplessness against an anxiety that plagues us today more than ever. It contains the echoes and scars of all we have been through. In a sense, this is not so much the end of the world but rather the end of mankind—that is, the sad realisation that the physical universe could continue—aimlessly—without us.
“2020” is a surreal metaphor for the human condition during the global pandemic. How else to describe the past year other than surreal? Seemingly overnight, the entire fabric of daily life has been turned upside down. The pandemic has demonstrated the fragility of our world. It has laid bare risks we have ignored for decades: inadequate health systems, gaps in social protection, structural inequalities, environmental degradation, and the climate crisis. The pandemic is an unprecedented wake-up call to question our mode of life and its impact on our very survival.
The painting depicts a man’s body submerged in the endless purple waters of what seems to be a tiled swimming pool, with only one hand visible above the surface. The hand rests on the elbow of the left arm. Its peaceful gesture builds a contrast with the violent swirls of water in the foreground. The violet “sea” dominates the picture. A sense of claustrophobia pervades the composition as water surrounds the body on all sides. The high horizon line marks the boundary between the dark and the luminous sky with a mystical ring of light and an ethereal cloud hovering above the water’s surface.
The work focuses on humanity’s helplessness against an anxiety that plagues us today more than ever. It contains the echoes and scars of all we have been through. In a sense, this is not so much the end of the world but rather the end of mankind—that is, the sad realisation that the physical universe could continue—aimlessly—without us.
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