Fedayeens 1991

Curator: Looking at Petros Malayan's "Fedayeens" from 1991, what leaps out at you? Editor: It has such a rough-hewn feel. The subjects look battle-worn and exhausted. You feel the weight of their clothes, weapons, and the unseen history etched into their faces. Curator: Malayan really captured the weight of history, I think. He uses thick, almost brutal strokes of oil paint. Editor: It's fascinating how the rough materiality mirrors the subject. Oil paint here, it seems, does more than represent – it embodies, doesn’t it? What can you tell us about the process itself? Curator: He used the paint almost sculpturally, not shying away from texture. The group portrait almost pushes out from the canvas with the depth achieved in short, agitated strokes. I feel it in my gut more than my head, which to me, makes it powerful. Editor: Exactly, and I'm immediately interested in those red and white striped trousers of one of the subjects—quite bold among the greens and browns. Also the labor of production interests me as I wonder whether the canvas was locally made, mass-produced, what the context for producing such materials were. It really speaks to questions of conflict in a social system. Curator: He really pulls us in, making us ponder their inner lives—that’s what good portraiture achieves, doesn't it? Editor: It certainly makes me ponder where these fedayeen might be headed—beyond that green backdrop, to the labor or liberation that the artist sees for them? Curator: Indeed, there's such intensity in the brushwork that conveys so much unspoken experience and that feels really important in the way we respond to their plight and determination. Editor: Right, their resilience, shown in oil on canvas: a heavy object to carry, too. The choice of material itself shows commitment, and that comes through in their representation. Curator: Well, thanks for sharing those fascinating points. Editor: My pleasure, Petros Malayan has a lot to tell us through this.