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A painting entitled 'Picnic' by artist Muayad Muhsin, who was both inspired and enraged by a photo of
Donald H. Rumsfeld slumped on an airplane seat with his army boots up in front of him, is displayed in
Baghdad, Iraq Monday, June 5, 2006. The painting, which is expected to be unveiled at an exhibition in
Baghdad next week, illustrates the simmering anger of Iraqis with the United States three years after it rid
them of Saddam Hussein, whose ouster has been followed by an enduring wave of violence, sectarian
tensions and crime. (AP Photo/Samir Mizban)

Painting Captures U.S. Arrogance

By
Hamza Hendawi

Iraq exhibit to show work depicting Rumsfeld - Boots deliver message 'America rules world'.
BAGHDAD — The photo both enraged and inspired Muayad Muhsin: U.S. Defence Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld sitting back in an airplane seat, his feet — in heavy army boots — stretched
out in front of him.

"It symbolized America's soulless might and arrogance," said Muhsin, whose painting of
Rumsfeld in a similar pose is to be unveiled in an exhibition opening in Baghdad on Monday.
That painting and the rest of the exhibit illustrate the simmering anger of Iraqis with the United
States as the country continues to endure violence, sectarian tensions and crime three years
after Saddam Hussein's ouster.

After President George W. Bush, most Iraqis see Rumsfeld as the man behind the invasion of
their oil-rich country and the chief architect of U.S. military actions in Iraq.

Those who closely follow Rumsfeld remember his infamous comment — "Stuff happens" —
when asked why U.S. troops did not actively seek to stop the lawlessness in the Iraqi capital in
the weeks that followed the city's capture in April 2003.

Another memorable Rumsfeld comment, also made in 2003, was his suggestion that Iraq's
alleged weapons of mass destruction were deeply hidden in Iraq. "It's a big country," he said.
Muhsin first saw the Rumsfeld photo about 18 months ago. He went to work right away, but did
not finish the painting — titled "Picnic" — until recently.

The oil-on-canvas work shows Rumsfeld in a blue jacket, tie, khaki pants and army boots
reading from briefing papers. His boots are resting on what appears to be an ancient stone.
He sits next to a partially damaged statue of a lion standing over a human — a traditional image
of strength in ancient Babylon. The statue's stone base is ripped open, revealing shelves from
which white pieces of papers are flying away, later turning into birds.

Muhsin said the symbolism has to do with Washington's repeated assertions before the U.S.-led
invasion that Saddam's regime had weapons of mass destruction, the cornerstone of the Bush's
argument for going to war.

No such weapons turned up, but the Bush administration maintained that removing Saddam's
regime alone justified the decision to invade Iraq.

"Rumsfeld's boots deliver a message from America: `We rule the world,'" Muhsin, 41, said in an
interview. "It speaks of America's total indifference to what the rest of the world thinks."
Muhsin said he signed the painting in the middle, instead of the customary bottom corner, to
avoid having it under Rumsfeld's boots.

"The Americans brought us rosy dreams but left us with nightmares. They came with a broad
smile but gave us beheaded bodies and booby-trapped cars."

http://www.lilithgallery.com/arthistory/contemporary/Muayad_Muhsin-AmericanArrogance.html

About the Artist:

Muayad Muhsin was born April 19, 1964 in Babylon, Iraq. He recalls becoming fascinated by
color and line and beginning to draw at the age of 4. As a child, Muhsin saw the road between
home and school as a “heaven for studying my objects, the birds, the cats, our old couch, the
school yard and the dumpster place.” Frequently advised by others who “did not understand the
arts,” Muhsin was told to leave drawing because it “was no good and doesn’t earn you money
and to look for something else which can be used to fill the stomach.”

Muhsin received his art education at the Art Institute of Baghdad from 1979-1984, of which he
says, “The days of study at the Institute were the golden years of my life as my talent grew
despite my hard time living with national unrest and pressure on the mental freedoms from the
bloody dictatorship and his regime.”

After finishing his studies at the Institute, Muhsin was drafted into the military and forced to fight
in the Iraq-Iran War from 1984-89 and the Kuwait War from 1990-91. Muhsin says, “During my
military service, the paint brush never touched my hand nor did the pen to draw.”
During the 1990s, Muhsin faced periods of being homeless and jobless, but managed to hold
onto his determination to be a painter. He sold his works in galleries and the market area of Al-
Karada in Baghdad.

The works of Muayad Muhsin are rich with symbolism of the Mesopotamian region, set in
theatrical and cinematic scenes. In an article in Al Mutamar newspaper (July 29, 2003), Salam
Harba writes, “Muayad has built his world using the remains of the ancient world, the remains of
myths, the thoughts, values.”

Muhsin's most famous art piece "Picnic" was done in 2006. It depicts US Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld relaxing with his feet up and is meant to symbolize American arrogance,
laziness and the "soullessness of the Bush government".

For more information about Muayad Muhsin's "Picnic", click here.

For more about Muayad Muhsin and Iraqi Art, click here.

The Iraqi surrealist painter, Muayad Muhsin, has painted a rather unflattering portrait of U.S.
Defense Secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld. Muhsin’s surrealism is not informed by dreams and
the unconsciousness mind, but by the horrors and barbarity of war.

His painting titled, Picnic, portrays a combat boot wearing Rumsfeld relaxing comfortably in a
chair, his raised feet resting on a destroyed relic from Iraq’s Babylonian past. In the background
can be seen a giant fractured statue of a lion standing triumphantly over a vanquished man -
another motif from ancient Babylon. The statue’s based is smashed open, and out of it white
papers are flying up into the sky - a metaphor not only for the country’s past but for the looted
libraries and art museums destroyed in the opening days of America’s blitzkrieg shock and awe
bombing and invasion.

Muhsin’s first exhibition of paintings in the United States ended this past May 27th, 2006. Titled
American Collection, the exhibit was held at the Customs House Museum and Cultural Center in
Clarksville, Tennessee, and was comprised of 21 oil on canvas paintings and two water colors.
Muhsin’s latest paintings, including the scathing attack on Rumsfeld, will be unveiled at a
Baghdad gallery in an exhibition slated to open on June 12th, 2006 - but not without risks. While
U.S. war hawks claim artists like Muhsin today enjoy freedoms denied them under the
dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, artists are now threatened by fundamentalist zealots who want
to ban western style art for being "un-Islamic" - forces ironically unleashed by the U.S. invasion
and occupation. Under Hussein the arts were suppressed for secular political reasons, these
days they are in jeopardy for religious reasons.

Then of course there’s the military occupation and its so-called collateral damage - the unending
numbers of people who perish in an urban nightmare battlefield environment not exactly
conducive to making art or holding gallery exhibitions.

Like many other Iraqi artists, Muayad Muhsin (41) was press ganged into Saddam’s army, and
he’s a veteran of Iraq’s wars against Iran and Kuwait. He despises the former dictator for having
taking "the best years of my life." While it’s true Iraqi artists feel relief at Saddam being removed
from power, they also seem to have little fondness for those who’ve proclaimed themselves
liberators. As Mushin says, "The Americans brought us rosy dreams but left us with nightmares,
they came with a broad smile but gave us beheaded bodies and booby-trapped cars."

The wit and wisdom of U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has not been lost on the Iraqi
people, he certainly is a quotable fellow, and it is Rumsfeld’s drollness that in part inspired
Muhsin’s painting. When America launched its shock and awe attack to supposedly disarm Iraq
of its weapons of mass destruction, Rumsfeld famously said of those WMD’s, "We know where
they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north
somewhat."

The Associated Press reports that the surrealist painter has harsh words for Rumsfeld and the
Americans, "They did not find weapons and instead, found the annals of an ancient civilization
that turned into birds of love, peace and knowledge. Rumsfeld’s boots deliver a message from
America: ‘We rule the world.’"

Muhsin makes clear the intent of his painting, "It speaks of America’s total indifference to what
the rest of the world thinks" and symbolizes "America’s soulless might and arrogance." As a
further act of resistance, the artist signed his painting in the middle instead of the conventional
bottom corner - so as to avoid having his signature under Rumsfeld’s boots.

On a related note, Muayad Muhsin is mentioned in an overview of contemporary Iraqi art,

written by artist Steve Mumford for artnet.com in 2003. Mumford’s article focused on the artists
associated with Baghdad’s famous Hewar Gallery just as the guerrilla war against the U.S.
occupation began to expand. Mumford arrived in Iraq after American troops seized Baghdad,
and he was "embedded" with the U.S. Army’s Third Infantry Division as a combat artist.

He rode upon one of the unit’s armored personnel carriers, and by his own admission, "when
the battle was going on, I stayed below in the armored personnel carrier and passed up
ammunition" - which have led some to remark that Mumford was "in bed with" the U.S.
occupation forces.

Still, Mumford’s outline of the current art scene in Iraq is worth reading as a basic primer, and
the examples of paintings by Iraqi artists that illustrate the article are particularly enlightening.
However, much has changed in Iraq in three years, and if Muayad Muhsin’s latest painting is
any indication - the U.S. has almost run out of friends in that country.

For more information about Muayad Muhsin's "Picnic", click here.

For more about Muayad Muhsin's Art, click here.

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Muayad Muhsin was both inspired and enraged by a photo of Defense
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld slumped on an airplane seat with his army boots up in front of
him.

“It symbolized America’s soulless might and arrogance,” said Muhsin, whose similar painting of
Rumsfeld will be unveiled in an exhibition opening in Baghdad on Monday.

The painting, expected to be the show’s main attraction, and the rest of the exhibit illustrate the
simmering anger of Iraqis with the United States as the country continues to endure violence,
sectarian tensions and crime three years after Saddam Hussein’s ouster.

Muhsin’s Rumsfeld painting is not the first artistic expression by Iraqis of the perceived
injustices by the United States in their country, but it’s the first to depict a top member of the
Bush administration. After President Bush, most Iraqis see Rumsfeld as the man behind the
invasion of their oil-rich country and the chief architect of U.S. military actions in Iraq.

Those who closely follow him remember his infamous comment — “Stuff happens” — when
asked why U.S. troops did not actively seek to stop the lawlessness in the Iraqi capital in the
weeks that followed their capture of the city in April 2003.

Another memorable Rumsfeld comment, also made in 2003, was his suggestion that Iraq’s
alleged weapons of mass destruction were deeply hidden in Iraq. “It’s a big country,” he said.

Inspiration for 'Picnic'

Muhsin first saw the Rumsfeld photo about 18 months ago. He went to work right away, but did
not finish the painting — entitled “Picnic” — until about two weeks ago.

The oil-on-canvas, 5-by-3-foot work shows Rumsfeld in a blue jacket, tie, khaki pants and army
boots reading from briefing papers. His boots are resting on what appears to be an ancient
stone.
While Rumsfeld’s image is true to life, he sits next to a partially damaged statue of a lion
standing over a human — a traditional image of strength during the ancient Babylon civilization.
The statue’s stone base is ripped open, revealing shelves from which white piece of papers are
flying away, later turning into birds soaring high into an ominously gray sky.

Muhsin said the symbolism has to do with Washington’s repeated assertions in the months
before the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that Saddam’s regime had weapons of mass
destruction, the cornerstone in the Bush administration’s argument for going to war.

No such weapons turned up, but the Bush administration maintained that removing Saddam’s
regime alone justified the decision to invade Iraq.

“They did not find the weapons and, instead, found the annals of an ancient civilization that
turned into birds of love, peace and knowledge,” said Muhsin, himself a native of the area
around the central Iraqi city of Babil, or Babylon, south of Baghdad.

“Rumsfeld’s boots deliver a message from America: ‘We rule the world,”’ Muhsin, 41, told The
Associated Press in an interview. “It speaks of America’s total indifference to what the rest of
the world thinks.”

Well-placed signature

Muhsin said he signed the painting in the middle, instead of the customary bottom corner, to
avoid having it under Rumsfeld’s boots.

Muhsin’s works borrow heavily from Iraq’s ancient history. Images of historical ruins and other
ancient landmarks are often depicted in the background. His human subjects, like those in most
of the 15 paintings to be exhibited, often cut tormented figures.

The central subject of his “Execution Plaza,” another attraction in the exhibition, is a slender
woman in a red dress, blindfolded and standing barefoot on dry ground. In the background is a
twilight sky dotted with clouds and a distant mosque minaret.

Muhsin’s opposition to the U.S. military presence in Iraq is matched by his resentment of
Saddam’s regime. A veteran of Iraq’s ruinous 1980-88 war against neighboring Iran, he was
discharged for just a day in 1990 before he was called back for duty when Iraq occupied Kuwait.
“Saddam took the best years of my life,” he lamented, speaking outside a store room where he
keeps four of the 15 paintings scheduled for display.

The departure of Saddam’s regime did not improve things, he said.

“The Americans brought us rosy dreams but left us with nightmares, they came with a broad
smile but gave us beheaded bodies and booby-trapped car.”

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/13182747