lose heart, shrill, cri de coeur

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ECON.ST

Iranian Illustrator's Allusive Eye

By MELIK KAYLAN
June 19, 2008; Page D7

Ardeshir Mohassess: Art and Satire in Iran
Asia Society
Through Aug. 3

New York

A brief look at the first few images of the exhibition makes your heart sink. This will be rough going you think. Ink-on-paper drawings of bullet-pierced martyrs in robes demonstrating, crowd scenes of public hangings -- one long shrill cri de coeur against tyranny. Very important, no doubt. You could leave early. But you don't and you really shouldn't. A second glance and you quickly realize that the work rewards closer study.

Take the 1978 drawing titled "Today's martyrs demonstrate in honor of tomorrow's martyrs." To the left stands a group of burning women in chadors with interchangeable Russian doll faces. The rising flames look decorative, exactly like peacock tails. About to enter the flames from the right are a band of 20 or so bullet-holed men, some with mullah turbans. They approach like automatons, but the artist individuates the men carefully, as specific characters, possibly portraits. If the details are fully intentional, then the artist is a sly one. He's delivering a subtle critique of the martyrs too. The women die anonymously but decoratively, while the men are visible for posterity. And no one's complaining about their fate. This is deliberate self-martyrdom, and the artist makes you feel uneasy about it with the subtlest of signs.

lose heart

phrase of lose

1. 1.

   become discouraged.

   "seeing all the things that had to be done, she lost heart"

shrill Show phonetics
adjective
1 having a loud and high sound that is unpleasant or painful to listen to:
She had a shrill high-pitched voice.

2 DISAPPROVING describes a way of arguing or criticizing that seems too forceful:
He launched a shrill attack on the Prime Minister.

cri de coeur

(krē' də kœr')

n., pl. cris de coeur (krē').
An impassioned outcry, as of entreaty or protest.

[French cri de cœur : cri, cry + de, of + cœur, heart.]