INQUISI-XION — Martin Blanco — Contemporary Figurative Artist

INQUISI-XION
How easily can the crowd turn against us when we dare to step outside the accepted truth?
2024
Oil, gold leaf and silver leaf on Belgian linen
220 × 300 cm

€22,500

ORIGINAL WORK · AVAILABLE

INQUIRE ABOUT THIS WORK

THE CRUCIFIXION

What happens when tolerance ends where conformity begins?
Inquisi-xion explores the mechanisms of social exclusion, censorship and collective judgement in a world where public opinion can be shaped, amplified and enforced through a screen.

THE STORY BEHIND THE WORK

We live in an age that places enormous value on equality and tolerance. Yet disagreement can quickly become a reason for exclusion when someone moves beyond the boundaries of what is considered acceptable.

Social networks have created an environment in which judgement can become instantaneous and collective. An opinion, an image or a behaviour can be amplified within seconds, transforming disagreement into condemnation and, ultimately, into a form of digital punishment.
The work uses the crucifixion as a visual metaphor for this process. The act of publicly condemning and punishing someone for stepping outside an accepted framework finds a contemporary parallel in the mechanisms of cancellation and exclusion that can take place online.
The wrists are held in place by the icons of Facebook and X, transformed into the nails of the crucifixion. The body itself is fragmented across different digital devices — tablets and mobile phones — suggesting that the experience of being judged increasingly takes place through screens rather than through direct human interaction.
Behind the central device, branches fill the background. They represent the noise of the outside world: the constant flow of opinions, reactions and information that inevitably enters our inner lives and begins to shape the way we think.
The bandages covering the mouth share the same colour as this environment, suggesting a system that not only surrounds the individual but also attempts to silence them.
Above everything, an eye evokes the imagery of Big Brother: the feeling of being constantly observed, evaluated and potentially judged.
The canvas is constructed in an L-shaped format, bringing the feet of the crucified figure down to the floor. Seen from above, they can appear to be our own feet. The shift between skin tones and background colours reinforces this identification: what may initially appear to happen to someone else could happen to any of us.
The work ultimately asks where the boundary lies between social responsibility and collective punishment — and how easily the desire to protect accepted values can become another form of intolerance.

SYMBOLS & REFERENCES

THE CRUCIFIXION

The crucifixion becomes a metaphor for public condemnation and punishment, connecting a historical form of persecution with contemporary mechanisms of social exclusion.

FACEBOOK & X

The icons of Facebook and X become the nails holding the figure in place, transforming familiar symbols of digital communication into instruments of punishment.

THE DIGITAL DEVICES

Tablets and smartphones fragment the body, representing a reality increasingly experienced through screens and the influence these devices exert on our perception of the world.

THE BOUND MOUTH

The covered mouth represents the loss of voice that can accompany social condemnation and the pressure to remain within accepted boundaries.

THE EYE

The eye evokes the idea of constant surveillance and the feeling of being permanently observed, evaluated and judged.

THE BRANCHES

The branches represent the noise of the outside world — the continuous flow of opinions and information that penetrates our inner lives and shapes our perceptions.

THE BODY OF THE CROWD

What happens to the individual when judgement becomes collective?
The figure is deliberately constructed so that the viewer can identify with it. The feet are seen from above as though they could belong to us, suggesting that the person being condemned is never entirely “someone else”.
The distinction between observer and observed, judge and judged, can disappear very quickly.

DETAILS

Details from Inquisi-xion, revealing the visual dialogue between religious imagery, digital symbols and the physical materials of the painting.

THE WORK IN SPACE

220 × 300 cm
The largest work in the DIES IRAE series, its monumental scale extends the crucifixion beyond the boundaries of a traditional image and places the viewer physically within the scene.