Dear lion, your claws is really strong but mine is more
Dear lion, your claws is really strong but mine is more unfurls like a banner-manifesto. On a cotton canvas over two metres long, a large lion resembling a sphinx faces a woman with a fishtail, which could be a self-portrait. These two imaginary beings with blue bodies cross their claws and stare at each other. Their chimerical, mythological forms are outlined with spray paint and embellished with coloured details painted in acrylic. With a linear treatment that is as reminscent of the drawings of Cocteau and Picasso as it is of graffiti, the artist expresses her resilience and her quest for freedom in a complex geopolitical context. The position and shape of the figures in the space recall the Oedipal episode of the enigma of the Sphinx. This iconographic reference reflects Aysha E Arar’s interest in folk tales and mythology.
Text written by Clara Delettre as part of the partnership between the École du Louvre and Lafayette Anticipations – Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin.
Exhibition
Hamidrasha Gallery, Tel Aviv (Israël)
from 11 Feb to 25 Mar 2022