"Faden’s examination of the repetition of history and tragedy has opened a chasm of cognitive dissonance that renders visible the chaos and fragmentation of trying to understand it. "

-from the artist statement

Ian Faden’s new body of work extends his thematic insight from And The Band Played On, Randy Shilts’ 1987 book of record on AIDS. In the wake of the past two years, Shilts’ “business as usual” use of the expression to convey frustration and outrage continues to resonate. By bridging AIDS to our current pandemic, Faden is highlighting how both have wrought unnecessary calamity on the least powerful populations. Faden’s examination of the repetition of history and tragedy has opened a chasm of cognitive dissonance that renders visible the chaos and fragmentation of trying to understand it. The shown figures perform, contemplate and dissociate as omnipresent caricatures of powerful capitalists such as Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerburg menace around them. Inspired by the satirical etchings of James Gilray and Goya, the exaggerated and playful representation of these men are implicated directly into the questions of what "business as usual" means and why it is that way. 

With Carousel, Faden had a change in process by starting many of the paintings directly from live models. Using that foundation, each painting then unfolded slowly with deeper context, mood and narrative. The interrogation of history reoccurs with the casual use of Renaissance aesthetics which wink at the flimsy constructs of some historical eras being superior to others, further eroding the comfort that we have learned from our pasts. With beliefs and constructs in question without answers, the shape-shifting, time-melding worlds on canvas provide at the least a clarity, if anything, that the feelings and thoughts are real and can be painted.