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Art

Icons Masked In League Of Wrestling Paintings

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The League of Wrestling Mask Portraits is a growing body of work, undertaken in 2023, by realist painter, Richard Delaney. The work is a satirical, Pop Art-style, examination of the famous and controversial people of our time, such as Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau, Elon Musk, and Greta Thunberg. Delaney paints their approximately, life-size portraits, in an unconventional manner. Politicians and celebrities are depicted wearing personalized wrestling masks (as in professional wrestling, aka Lucha Libra, often referred to as Mexican wrestling masks). They wear their masks as if ready to battle/wrestle in the social and political ring.  

Each mask is customized for the individual wearer with clues to their identity imbedded in the design.

The symbolic clues help the viewer identify the person when the facial features alone are not enough. For example, the design of Greta Thunberg’s mask reflects her climate activism. Yellow flame-patterned, patches, around her eyes, nose, and mouth, rise up to symbolically melt what appears to be an ice cap on the top of her head, causing melt-water to flow into the blue, ocean-like area of the mask, covering her face. The dominant colours, light blue and yellow, reference Thunberg’s country, Sweden, and its flag.     

Delaney’s paintings in oil and acrylic are garish, bombastic, and humorous. They are fresh and contemporary while being reminiscent of 1960’s Pop Art. The visual aesthetic is like a combination of cartoon, realistic painting, and or photo collage. The mask component has a hint of vintage, comic book art, and pulp art illustration. In contrast, the facial features of the subjects are rendered in a somewhat, photorealistic style.

Conceptually, the League of Wrestling Mask Portraits, is very much Pop Art, and may have roots in the work of Warhol.

Both artists use mass media as a reservoir of ideas. They each present the concept of fame and celebrity in a uniquely identifiable style. There is no doubt that the ‘mask’ in Delaney’s work is simultaneously a visual brand, and a concept to be pondered.  

    

Delaney has coined the terms “maskified” and “maskification,” to describe his portraits. The maskified portraits cannot be viewed without some consideration for the basic idea and purpose of a mask, that is, to conceal true identity, and or to project a persona. The maskification of Donald Trump, for example, in a red mask with gold trim and crown, draws a comparison to classic comic book superheroes or villains, depending on one’s political stance. The connection with Mascaras de Lucha Libra is of course, intentional, and it is this simple juxtaposition that makes the work visually and intellectually, compelling.        

Delaney plans to produce a large collection of portraits by the end of 2024.

Ultimately, he imagines them displayed and for sale in a contemporary art gallery. For the time being, they are available to view on social media in the form of humorous reels and videos. There are many potential subjects that Delaney would like to paint, including, for example, Dylan Mulvaney, Joe Rogan, Kamala Harris, King Charles, Pierre Poilievre, and Jordan Peterson. Who do you think should be maskified? You can make suggestions by following Delaney on social media where he will be frequently unveiling new paintings for his League of Wrestling Mask Portraits. 

Politics

USA, Germany Ratings Weaker As Russia Suffers Global Rebuke

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U.S. leadership ratings retreated after the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan, with most of the world disapproving of Russia’s leadership after its invasion of Ukraine 

Washington, D.C. — A new Gallup report based on interviews in 137 countries in 2022 shows the honeymoon is over for U.S. President Joe Biden, and Germany’s image has lost some of its clout under new Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Though global approval ratings of the U.S. and Germany dipped in 2022, both countries are still in much stronger positions than Russia — which saw its ratings plunge after its invasion of Ukraine — and China.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (L) with Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R)

Here are some of the key findings from Gallup’s Rating World Leaders 2023 report:

  • U.S. leadership ratings around the world rebounded in 2021 in the first year of Biden’s presidency but declined in his second.
  • Ratings for the U.S. first slipped after withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
  • There were double-digit decreases in U.S. leadership approval in 36 countries between 2021 and 2022 — mostly in Europe and the Americas.
  • Russia’s approval ratings plunged worldwide after the invasion of Ukraine, and the majority of adults around the world now disapprove of Russia’s leadership.
  • Majorities in 81 of the 137 countries surveyed disapproved of Russian leadership.

A look back to last year’s rankings and previous years.

Implications Beyond 2023:

One of the biggest foreign policy challenges facing the U.S. and its allies in 2023 and beyond will be to ensure the transatlantic unity that was so greatly tested in 2022 does not fracture as Russia’s war against Ukraine continues.

The images of the U.S. and Germany are in slightly weaker positions than before the war started, but they are still in much stronger positions than Russia. But perhaps more importantly, the soaring disapproval of Russia’s leadership in all parts of the world shows they are not the only countries that care.