Untitled XII by contemporary photographer Andres Serrano is one of the Torture Pictures of the torture of Iraqis on display at Jack Shainman Gallery

ART REVIEW: Andres Serrano’s Torture Pictures on display at Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, push the limits of contemporary photography and stir up memories of a painful history.

BY KAZEEM ADELEKE

NEW YORK, NY– Presently at the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York is an exhibition featuring photographs by Andres Serrano.  The exhibition, titled Andres Serrano: Selected Works 1984-2015, includes important series the artist created over the years. They comprise The Morgue and History of Sex. Also in the show are his homeless series: Nomads and Residents of New York.

“It’s easy to torture people when you have power over them.” – Andres Serrano

In conversation with the homeless images are the torture pictures. Although Serrano took the torture pictures several years ago, they are even more relevant today.  President Donald Trump’s recent pronouncement that he will use enhanced interrogation techniques on prisoners as well as kill the families of terrorists. These images are reminders of the atrocities of the not-too-distant past and an uncertain future.  They bear witness to a painful history.

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The series began in 2005 after Andres Serrano was commissioned by the New York Times to create illustrations for the article What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Torture by Joseph Lelyved.  In the article, Lelyved examined the Abu Ghraib scandal in which several American soldiers were accused of human rights violations for torturing captured enemy combatants. Many of the photographs from the prison in Iraq show prisoners going through torture. While some were put in stressful positions, others were tormented by dogs. Andres continued with this torture series in 2015 when he got an offer to continue the project.

The result of that project is a collection of photographs that tell the story of torture through the years. Traveling to more than 15 countries, Andres documented different instruments of torture that became windows to the pain of those tortured.  Iron shackles, one of the images in the series, is a reminder of the handcuffs used during slavery.  It brings to light stories of how people were chained together, dehumanized, and forced into slavery by slave traders. The piece is also a signifier of colonialism and the subjugation of others.

Several masks with frozen expressions are also part of the torture pictures. They remind viewers that those who wore those masks went through gruesome experiences. In Fool’s Masks IV, Hever Castle, England (Torture), 2015, for instance, Andres allows viewers to experience the face of a freighted and dying individual. The immediate question is ‘What did this man do to deserve this macabre punishment?’

Objects of Torture

While the images of objects in the torture series are very powerful in their own way, the ones with people going through different forms of torture are even more haunting. Untitled XVIII (Torture), 2015 has the image of a hooded man with his hand tied behind his back. His body is dirty and his torn clothes lay on his back. From the man’s body language, it is clear from his expression that he is in a lot of pain.

“It’s easy to torture people when you have power over them.” – Andres Serrano

The iconic image of a hooded man wearing a flowing gown with his outstretched hand connected to electric cables is an important signifier of the torture at Abu Ghraib. When the photograph first came into public space in 2003, the world was in total disbelief. The revelation that enemy combatants were going through torture at the hands of their American captors was jarring to many.

Abu Ghraib Images

In his appropriation of the Abu Ghraib images, Andreas Serrano brings attention to the consequences of war and human rights violations.  However, this is not the only photograph that rekindles the memories of the torture of prisoners under the George Bush administration.  Also in this show is the photograph of a naked man under attack by a ferocious dog and another image of a man hanging by his hands.

There is a continuation of the story of torture in Untitled XXII (Torture), 2015. The image features a man in a blindfold. He is tied to a stick with his hand behind his back. He was kneeling on the hard floor, and the strain and pressure of torture are visible on his face.  Perhaps, the uncertainty of what happens next is the greatest torture.

Don’t tell me it doesn’t work–torture works.” – Donald Trump

Installed not too far from the torture pictures is a portrait of Donald Trump.  It is telling that the portrait of Trump taken several years ago is in this show. Don’t tell me it doesn’t work–torture works,” he said.

Serrano sees the torture of people as symptomatic of hegemonic and power relationships. “It’s easy to torture people when you have power over them,” he said. With President Trump’s recent call to bring back torture, Serrano’s torture pictures are reminders that atrocities of the past can happen now.

Warning: Torture Pictures

Andres Serrano, Untitled XXVI-1 (Torture), 2015. © Andres Serrano. Image: Jack Shainman Gallery

Andres Serrano, Torture Pictures. © Andres Serrano. Image: Jack Shainman Gallery

Andres Serrano, Untitled XX (2015). © Andres Serrano. Courtesy: Jack Shainman Gallery

Andres Serrano, Untitled XII (2015). © Andres Serrano. Image: Jack Shainman Gallery

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