Arruda, John. The Blind Leading the Blind

John Arruda, The Blind Leading the Blind
John Arruda, The Blind Leading the Blind

Artist: John Arruda (American, b. 1947)

Title: The Blind Leading the Blind

Audio:

Date: 1993

Dimensions: 34″ x 40″

Location in Library: First floor

Media: Oil on canvas

Owner: The Brooklyn College Library Collection.

Gift of John Arruda and Sally Bowdoin. © John Arruda

Description: Exceedingly imaginative and dramatic, Arruda creates compelling portrayals of all facets of human emotions. His probing of the human soul results in raw psychological portraits, and often violent imagery.

Disturbing and dreamlike, this painting appears to be a murder scene but is also intriguing for its ambiguity. Is this about a physical death or psychological death? Where are the hands on the central figure? The split images give a sense of movement and fragmentation, enhancing the unsettling feeling.

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