Ridikkuluz Examines Israeli-Palestinian Conflict With New Show

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Artist Ridikkuluz has unveiled a solo exhibition at Salma Sarriedine gallery, featuring works that interpret the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the metaphor of dogs. The show's title, Klab (كِلَاب), means“dogs” in Arabic and is often used as an insult. This term takes on new significance following the Israeli army's latest offensive against Palestinians, which began after October 7, 2023.

One prominent piece,“Ya Kalb (tribute to Al-Zaidi)” ( 2026 ), depicts George W. Bush as a painter with a loafer in his mouth. This image alludes to Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi's 2008 act of throwing shoes at the president during a Baghdad press conference. In this painting, Bush renders a white poodle with glowing blue eyes, its demonic aura hinting at future dangers. This particular poodle is paradoxically the most subdued canine in the entire exhibition.

Throughout the show, Ridikkuluz represents Israeli soldiers as aggressive dogs perpetrating atrocities against Palestinians and other individuals from the Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) regions. The artist's work critiques the Israeli military's reported increase in the use of dog attacks on Palestinians, which has drawn global condemnation. The exhibition also addresses accounts of Israeli soldiers commanding dogs to sodomize, maul, and humiliate Palestinian men in prisons. For Ridikkuluz, the volatile dog symbolizes the ongoing violence and its unrestrained perpetrators.

Another artwork,“You're Next (The Fifteenth of May)” ( 2026 ), reinterprets Francisco de Goya's 1814 painting,“The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid.” Ridikkuluz's version commemorates May 15, 1948, as the start of the Nakba (النَّكْبَة), or“catastrophe,” during which an estimated 700,000 Palestinians were displaced, dispossessed, or killed between 1947 and 1949, coinciding with Israel's formation.

Source: Hyperallergic

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