This article appeared in Being Serwan Baran Issue #69 dedicated to tackling the journey of Serwan Baran, an Iraqi artist who transforms the brutal realities of war and human suffering into visual narratives. Born in Baghdad in 1968 and shaped by his experiences as a soldier, Baran’s work is rich with authenticity and emotional depth. His art reveals a complex psyche and a deep connection to the human experience. Through dark, brooding canvases, Baran explores themes of pain, resilience, and hope, urging viewers to confront uncomfortable truths while embracing our shared humanity.
Issue #69 ‘Being Serwan Baran’
War on Technology
This painting is representative of a new turn in Serwan’s oeuvre. Here, there is a shift from the condition of subjugation as it relates specifically to the Arab world, towards a more global concern. The artist considers the imprisonment of the human through technology and the constant mediation of the screen, as well as a growing reliance on social media. Tackling this subject has given his paintings a new colour palette and compositional focus, again showing the skilful combining of technique and subject. It is clear from these three paintings and from many others, that the enduring theme of Serwan’s work is imprisonment, war and subjugation, in whichever specific conditions and contexts he continues to find them.
Woman in the 21st Century (Sinjar)
This intensely evocative painting depicts three women wearing red with their shackled hands held out in front of them. Although untitled, the work highlights a specific historical moment – the enslavement and selling of Yazidi women from the Sinjar region by ISIS in 2014. Powerfully painted, the poignancy of the subject matter is highlighted by the use of the colour red as well as subtle shifts in focus between hand and face. This piece alludes to the heavy price paid by women amidst the reality of war and at the same time gestures towards the wider situation of women in society and their subjugation at the hands of others.
Untitled
For me, this monumental work is symbolic for the majestic manner in which it represents Serwan’s fascination with the imprisonment that is implicit within violence and war. The work highlights the subject matter of much of Serwan’s work, which deals more or less directly with the fact that war does not bring answers, rather destruction, death and ultimately more war. Further, this work essentialises the human tragedy of wars, placing it firmly within a lineage of large-scale paintings that depict war and the human consequences of war. In its masterful technique and subject, it is a painting that I firmly believe belongs in a museum along the works of figures such as Delacroix and Goya.