ACEROL, Ali

Acrylic on canvas

72 x 53"

In this work an image of Africa, painted in black, is combined with a gold-colored image of Germany. The background of the painting is made up of several representations of hand gestures used in deaf sign language, a reference to the Nazi program which sterilized the deaf with the goal of creating a superior race. The gestures translate a story written by Rickels in the chapter, “Into Africa,” part of his book Nazi Psychoanalysis–Crypto Fetishism. The narrative surrounds an early female German pilot who was among the first to fly to Africa and whose biography was co-opted for propaganda purposes by the Nazis.

2002

ACEROL, Ali

b Bursa, 1951

Gift of Laurence A. Rickels

2011.004.002