An Artist’s Response To The U.S. Capitol Riot
As angry pro-Trump rioters breached the U.S. Capitol building on January 6th, Hamden artist Jason Noushin, along with the rest of the world watched in disbelief as the unthinkable – American democracy under siege – unfolded in live video streams captured by fast-thinking reporters. He was catching up on the news on his phone in his art studio when suddenly news broke that the U.S. Capitol had been breached.
Horrified by the events of the night before, Noushin was back in his studio the next day working on a new painting about the Capitol. This despite the fact, the 51-year-old figurative artist had never before painted a building.
The work, “Tuesday Morning Wednesday Night” was his “way of responding to the dark and deadly climax to the Trump Era,” he said. “I wanted to capture this incredible historic moment in all its immediacy using a traditional black and white silhouette form. In the 18th & 19th century people believed you could tell something about the moral character of a person, from their face. I wanted to tell the story of the American Capitol on January 6th using this very American form of art to comment on the precarious state of American democracy.”
Completing the work within days, he went on to create a second painting, “Friday Noon” rendering the 20 ft Statue of Freedom crowning the Capitol dome. Of this painting, Noushin says, “It wasn’t just the physical structure of the Capitol building that was breached but, core American values of justice, equality, freedom, and democracy.”
About Jason Noushin
Jason Noushin is a Connecticut-based artist of British descent. The child of an English mother and Iranian father, he grew up in Iran as the Shah of Iran fell and Ayatollah Khomeini rose to power. You can reach him via www.jnoushin.com, Twitter and Instagram: jnoushin.
Tuesday morning Wednesday Night
As angry pro-Trump rioters breached the U.S. Capitol building on January 6th, Hamden artist Jason Noushin, along with the rest of the world watched in disbelief as the unthinkable – American democracy under siege – unfolded in live video streams captured by fast-thinking reporters. He was catching up on the news on his phone in his art studio when suddenly news broke that the U.S. Capitol had been breached.
Horrified by the events of the night before, Noushin was back in his studio the next day working on a new painting about the Capitol. This despite the fact, the 51-year-old figurative artist had never before painted a building.
The work, “Tuesday Morning Wednesday Night” was his “way of responding to the dark and deadly climax to the Trump Era,” he said. “I wanted to capture this incredible historic moment in all its immediacy using a traditional black and white silhouette form. In the 18th & 19th century people believed you could tell something about the moral character of a person, from their face. I wanted to tell the story of the American Capitol on January 6th using this very American form of art to comment on the precarious state of American democracy.”
Completing the work within days, he went on to create a second painting, “Friday Noon” rendering the 20 ft Statue of Freedom crowning the Capitol dome. Of this painting, Noushin says, “It wasn’t just the physical structure of the Capitol building that was breached but, core American values of justice, equality, freedom, and democracy.”
About Jason Noushin
Jason Noushin is a Connecticut-based artist of British descent. The child of an English mother and Iranian father, he grew up in Iran as the Shah of Iran fell and Ayatollah Khomeini rose to power. You can reach him via www.jnoushin.com, Twitter and Instagram: jnoushin.
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