The Battles of Life - SOLD
Richard Mudariki (b 1985)
The Battles of Life - 2012
Acrylic on canvas (triptych)
Each panel 100 x 100 cm
Signed and dated bottom right
Sold - 2012
The word triptych has its origins in the Greek triptychos, meaning three-layered. The triptych format comes from early Christian art, and was a popular standard format for altar paintings from the Middle Ages onwards. In a modern context this format can be used as a three-act dramatic structure to represent a beginning, a middle and an end. In the triptych ‘The Battles of Life’, the stage is set as a battlefield. This constructed environment with its chequered floor presents three different acts: armies fighting for resources, races fighting domination, and sexes fighting for equality. They are all engrossed in the game of arm wrestling, each competitor hoping to pin down the arm of the other in victory. Unlike a triptych used for dramatic structure where a conclusion is reached, these paintings capture a continued confrontation, each competitor locked in a battle which seems to be hopeless, aimless and without outcome. A continuous battle, a circle of victories and defeats…