''Othello'' is a series of paintings executed in 1985 by Nabil Kanso. The subjects of the paintings are loosely based on Shakespeare’s tragedy ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

''. The series comprises 60 paintings dealing with themes of love, race, jealousy, betrayal, and evil. They depict scenes embodying compositions of figural and metaphorical

image An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

ry that may be seen as visually reflecting the intimate and dramatic relationship between

and Desdemona, and the tense and uneasy relation that passes between and through Othello, Desdemona and Iago.

Description

The ''Othello'' paintings depict a sequence of figural images with oil and acrylic on canvases and paperboards ranging in size from 30×40 inches (102×76 cm) to 120×216 inches (300×550 cm). The overtones are often conveyed with wide-rugged brushstrokes of black against a red background with areas of orange and yellow, and with figures and shapes of animals, humans,

hooded A hood is a kind of headgear that covers most of the human head, head and neck, and sometimes the face. Hoods that cover mainly the sides and top of the head, and leave the face mostly or partly open may be worn for protection from the environm ...

faces, and

monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

s. It is pointed out that in the painting surface of the works on paper, "the brushstrokes seem even more aggressive, often giving the figures the immediacy of gesture sketches." The physical substance of the paintings reflects a process of forming imagery that may correspond in form, texture, tone, and color to the subject it represents. The intense colors and violent movement of the brush seem to add emphasis to the nature of the subject. The embraces of the figures representing Othello and Desdemona are viewed by some as scenes that move "from tender and loving to confusion and rage." When the ''Othello'' were exhibited at the gallery space of a theater in Atlanta in 1985, the paintings were considered “too provocative” and were taken down the day after the exhibit had been hung. The paintings in the series are divided almost equally in two parts. The first part consists of works often depicting compositions of naked human figures encountered in intimate situations heightened by the contrast of light and dark, and various sexual metaphors. The second part contains about thirty canvases dealing with themes of intrigue, suspicion, and killing making direct references to the characters Iago, Othello, and Desdemona in Shakespeare’s tragedy. They reveal images of aggressiveness, intensity, and violence with webs of turbulent rhythm, whirling forms, and allegorical concepts as a means of conjuring imagery with layers of meanings and

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

s that may visually reinterpret the intensity of events leading to Othello killing of Desdemona.Othello Paintings, pp.49-87

References

External links

''Othello'' paintings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Othello (Paintings) Modern paintings Series of paintings by Nabil Kanso Othello (paintings) 1985 paintings Paintings based on works by William Shakespeare Paintings of black people el:Οθέλος es:Otelo (pinturas) he:אותלו sr:Отело (драма)