Description
‘Rainbow Warriors’ by Jonathan Ouisse
Artist: Jonathan Ouisse
Title: ‘Rainbow Warriors’
Medium: Acrylic and oil stick on black Fabriano paper, mounted on wood panel
Dimensions: 19.7″ x 28″
Framing: Framed (frame size: 25.2″ x 33″)
Year of Creation: 2021
About the Artwork:
“Rainbow Warriors: Created in 2021. Acrylic and oil pastel on fabriano paper. Metaphor of the ecological situation. In an emergency situation, a group of helmeted individuals in the middle of a race come to the aid of what appears to be a ‘plant man’ who has been heavily injured in a confrontation. The childlike environment in the background, with its colourful flowers, rainbows and smiling sun, is just an illusion; this land is red, burnt and the air is unbreathable. Inspired by a photographic snapshot of the human tragedy that is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I thought it would be interesting to transpose this violence to ‘nature’. The pop, acid colours contrast with the subject matter.” – Jonathan Ouisse
About the Artist:
(Artist Statement)
In Ouisse’s work, protagonists and animals gravitate in a world where they are mistreated. Often grotesque, exhibiting mockery and derision, it is full of symbols inspired by political matters, the media and childhood without ever becoming a mere cliché. Influenced by the pictorial gesture of the Italian Renaissance, the claroscuro, the style is precise and the lighting is dramatic. Firmly rooted in the nineties his work is influenced by an urban culture and the traits associated with this culture will undoubtedly make an impression on those who see it.
The burlesque, a subversive process which ironizes a dramatic story tinted with misanthropy is often employed by directors such as Emir Kusturica, Federico Fellini and even Monty Python, all of whom have used or still use the Burlesque at its paroxysm. Jonathan created images in the same manner, where the comical becomes the central idea and Jonathan Ouisse develops the process by mishandling the human race, both ridiculing it and laughing at its oversized vanity.