ASAD FAULWELL

b. 1982 (Caldwell, ID)

Asad Faulwell, Mujahidat #2, 2008, 36x48cm, Collection Amber Noland & Anne Rickets Noland
Asad Faulwell,
Mujahidat #2, 2008, 36x48cm,
Collection Amber Noland
& Anne Rickets Noland

The emerging LA-based artist Asad Faulwell has been developing a singular style that engages the past to create edgy work that is very much of today. By inserting images of secular figures from modern Middle Eastern history into paintings that combine western and eastern religious iconography, he presents the viewer with a fresh way to look at the region’s tumultuous history. The mixed media artist has been in a series of group and solo shows since receiving his MFA from Claremont Graduate University, including a 2009 group show at the well-respected gallery Marc Selwyn Fine Art.

Yasmine Mohseni is a Los Angeles-based arts writer and independent curator. Her articles have been published in magazines such as BlackBook, Discover and Newsweek. She is a contributing writer at Artworks and ForYourArt.com and is the U.S. Correspondent for Canvas magazine. Yasmine holds a Master of Arts degree in Art and Design History from the Bard Graduate Center in New York City, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from Occidental College in Los Angeles and a diploma from Christie's Education in Paris. She has worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Christie’s New York and the Musée d’Orsay. She is currently working on two gallery exhibitions in Los Angeles and several writing projects. For more information, please visit http://www.yasminemohseni.com

Yasmine Mohseni: Tell me a little bit about your style and the sources of inspiration in your work?

Asad Faulwell, Mujahidat #4, 2009, 36x48cm
Asad Faulwell,Mujahidat #4, 2009,
91 cm x 122 cm Collection
Dean Valentine and Amy Adelson

Asad Faulwell: I look at a lot of religious art and architecture, political advertisements, posters and old royal court paintings. I also draw inspiration from contemporary collage and painting. In my work, I combine black and white photos of historical figures with acrylic paint. The photos are usually manipulated in some way to form a radial or linear pattern. I then paint over and around these manipulated photos with acrylic paint in a way that will enhance the pattern. I don’t use a lot of blending or illusionist mark making. The painted elements tend to be flat, design-based marks.

YM: Your previous series includes photos of 20th century Middle Eastern politicians such as Nasser and Khomeini. What draws you to images of such high-profile and controversial figures?

AF: I have always had a strong interest in the history and various political movements of the modern Middle East. There is specific reasoning behind which images I use. For example, I include Ruhollah Khomeini in a piece because it’s intended to map the political history of Iran. It’s impossible to discuss modern Iran without discussing Khomeini. That same piece also includes Mohammad Mossadegh, Reza Shah Pahlavi, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Abol-Ghasem Kashani and Kermit Roosvelt. It’s more about the history of the country than any one individual. I was drawn to Nasser because of the impact he had on the entire region. I see these paintings as icons in a certain sense. In many cases there is a great deal of irony involved. I see politics as mirroring religion. People follow rulers, kings or presidents the same way they follow prophets or gods. Over time these rulers become mythologized, and this is partly what I am interested in: the myth that forms around the man and the way in which people elevate him to super-human status.

YM: Your most recent series depicts mujahidats who fought for Algeria during the Algerian War of Independence; how did you become interested in this topic? And what about these women inspired you?

AF: I had read a little bit about The Algerian War of Independence so I was aware of this Issue, and when I saw the film “The Battle of Algiers,” my interest was piqued. The images in that film were very powerful, and I was struck by the contradictions inherent in the violent acts that these women carried out. On the one hand they were educated women of good social standing fighting for the freedom of their country. And on the other hand, they were used by the Algerian men in various ways, such as decoys and bomb smugglers. After watching the movie, I researched the subject in greater detail and found that the vast majority of the women who fought against the French in the war were social outcasts after the war. This reinforced the contradictions that I had noted while watching the film. I was drawn to the complexity of the situation and the lack of real heroes or villains. It would be as easy to turn them into heroes as it would to demonize them. To me, this series engages in issues of colonialism, racism, gender-bias and the struggle for social and political power.

YM: You have spent a lot of time researching, reading and thinking about Algerian female fighters. As a half-Iranian half American man born and raised in the U.S., do you find you relate to them on any level?

AF: I relate to all the figures I work with in a detached and second-hand way. They are, in most cases, dead and from countries in which I have never lived. And, of course, I have never been a woman. However, I think they all speak to a certain universal human desire for justice and progress, and in that sense I relate to them.

YM: Why do you not include photos of current Middle Eastern political figures in your work?

Asad Faulwell, Mujahidat #7, 2009, 24x24cm
Asad Faulwell, Mujahidat #7, 2009,
24x24cm

AF: With the extensive media coverage today, there are very few political figures who are not given a great deal of attention already. So I don’t see it as being necessary. Oftentimes, people have already formed strong opinions about contemporary political figures. I like the semi-anonymous nature of the historical figures I work with. People tend to approach my work with more of an open mind when they are not sure what it is about or who the figures are. Plus, these historical figures are still relevant today as they helped form the world in which we live. The legacies they left, both positive and negative, are still very much alive in today’s political discourse.

YM: What are you currently working on?

AF: I just finished a large piece, a six-foot-by-six-foot piece based on Nasser that will be on display at Art Dubai in March. It is the first large-scale work I have done in a year and a half. I am also starting work on a project based on religious and political books that I hope to finish at some point in 2010.


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