THE WITCHES OF MODERNITEM — Martin Blanco — Contemporary Figurative Artist

THE WITCHES OF MODERNITEM
How much have we really changed if we still fear what we cannot control?
2023
Oil and silver leaf on Belgian linen
220 × 200 cm

€15,000

ORIGINAL WORK · AVAILABLE

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THE WITCH HUNT

When a body becomes controversial, the witch hunt has already begun.
The Witches of Modernitem explores the tension between personal expression, social judgement and the increasingly blurred boundaries between art, censorship and public morality.

THE STORY BEHIND THE WORK

One of the defining characteristics of modern society is the emergence of a new form of puritanism, increasingly visible across social networks and public discourse.
The simple representation of a woman's body — even within an artistic context — can become controversial enough to result in censorship, account restrictions or public condemnation. In this environment, an artwork or artistic photograph can become the object of a modern witch hunt.
The circular composition is defined by a serpent biting its own tail, referencing the Uroboros, an ancient symbol of eternal return. Good and evil, tolerance and intolerance, progress and regression can repeatedly return in different forms.
The female figure bears a scarlet letter on her back, referencing Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and its association with social judgement, morality and public shame. The body is deliberately presented without explicit sexual imagery, reinforcing the contradiction between the object being censored and the act of censorship itself.
The figure rests upon a bed of branches, evoking the traditional imagery of the witch hunt and the burning of the accused at the stake.
The work ultimately questions how far contemporary society has moved from the mechanisms of judgement and punishment of the past — particularly when social networks have become an ecosystem to which we have willingly given an extraordinary degree of power over our lives.

SYMBOLS & REFERENCES

THE UROBOROS

The serpent biting its own tail represents the eternal return — the idea that what we believe to have disappeared can return in another form.

THE SCARLET LETTER

A reference to Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, evoking social judgement, shame and the policing of morality.

THE FEMALE BODY

The body becomes the object of judgement, raising questions about sexuality, censorship and the boundaries imposed on artistic representation.

THE CIRCLE

The circular composition reinforces the idea of recurrence: history does not necessarily repeat itself in the same form, but its mechanisms can return.

THE BRANCHES

The bed of branches evokes the imagery of the witch hunt and the burning stake.

DETAILS

Details from The Witches of Modernitem, revealing the layers of oil and silver leaf that form the work.

THE WORK IN SPACE

220 × 200 cm
A large-format original conceived to be experienced at architectural scale, where the physical presence of the painting becomes an essential part of the work.