Wafaa Bilal, "Lovely Pink"

WAFAA BILAL
Born in Kufa, Iraq, 1966
Currently lives and works in New York City

From the series “Lovely Pink”

Pink David
2015
Cold cast resin and enamel paint

Perseus Beheading Medusa
2015
Cold cast resin, enamel paint, shrink wrap, and crude oil

For his "Lovely Pink" series, Wafaa Bilal reproduced a dozen of the most recognizable sculptures in Western art history—here you see replicas of Michelangelo’s David (1501–1504) and Benvenuto Cellini’s Perseus with the Head of Medusa (c. 1554)—on a scale not much larger than tourist souvenirs. Rather than mimicking the historical artwork in marble or bronze, Bilal made his figures of resin and coated them with hot shrink wrap and slick enamel, all products of Iraq’s coveted petroleum industry.

This process allowed Bilal to explore what it means to deface artistic masterpieces in light of the militant group Isis’s recent destruction of ancient Assyrian sites, including Palmyra in Syria and Nimrud in Bilal’s home country of Iraq. The works raise critical questions about human impulses to destroy or preserve cultural heritage and competing values that inform these decisions.

Student Committee Selection 2014–2015
Contemporary Art Purchasing Program
The Adele H. Stamp Student Union—Center for Campus Life