As we reflect on the fifth anniversary of a defining moment in our history, Cairo-based surrealist painter Yasser Rostom (1971) sheds light on different aspects of the current geopolitical events. Featuring a new body of work in Doves and Crows, Rostom mixes literalism with symbolism to create layers of meanings and accentuate the ills afflicting the region as well as the hopes that could salvage the peoples.
The dove and the crow, two birds adopted as icons of peace and power, appear on Rostom’s intricate works on paper and reveal his paranoiac-critical method of decoding the present for greater artistic creativity. To millions, the defenseless doves are a symbol of peace. The cunning crow, on the other hand, is the symbol of the dark and terrible night, or the necessary opponent.