Paper Weight
Political prints
I love political artwork for the same reason that I have the inability to do small talk. I enjoy having discussions about big things, because it tells me a lot about the person I'm talking to. Discussing political artwork often tells me more about you than it does about that object.
This digital exhibition came together around Nicky Nodjoumi's work. The Iranian dissident artist is featured in a new documentary called A Revolution on Canvas that just debuted on HBO. The film flips the script of an art heist thriller, with Nicky working to extract a significant early series of paintings from the Islamic republic where he grew up.
Nicky visited Santa Fe in 2018 to make a series of lithographs at Landfall Press, a print workshop where I worked along with my husband Steven Campbell, who helped print these works. I remember thinking about how, unless this really complex political situation in Iran changes significantly, Nicky will always be in this grey area. As an exile, he cannot return. He has lived in the United States for decades, and yet navigates this very complicated relationship between U.S. Policy and his home country.
All of the artists in this exhibition live in political, cultural or geographic grey areas, so even though they're working with one of the lightest mediums, their work carries a lot of weight. These pieces are heavy and that's why certain people might not like them. They're uncomfortable, but I love being uncomfortable when I'm looking at artwork.
You can engage in this conversation no matter where you're coming from—even if you haven't been displaced, or felt othered, or experienced authority figures as propagators of injustice—as long as you're able to linger in that discomfort. That is my challenge to you.
-Christina Ziegler campbell, registrar
Nicky Nodjoumi with Steven Campbell at Landfall Press.
