Sculpture - Late Works

Kazaz’s sculptural works run the stylistic gambit from the fine line mannered classicism of “Judas” through the bizarre “Cup of Life” to the macabre “Sacrifice.” His obsession with pushing bronze past its traditional static boundaries by inscribing intricate physical and psychological details on his figures and exposing them to exotic patination, imbue the works multiple personalities. So much so, being in their presence becomes an intensely sensual experience. “Sculpture like painting is an art of ambiguous surfaces” (Campbell S. J., 2002, “Fare una Cosa Morta Parer Viva”: Michelangelo, Rosso and the (Un) Divinity of Art, “The Art Bulletin, New York: College Art Association, Vol. LXXXI, No. 4, 609).

A handful of moral themes related to the nature of vice and fate are tied up within the story of “Judas” (bronze, 65”x34”x34”). Kazaz’s abundantly detailed study reveals the motives behind the betrayal of Jesus in a stunningly classical manner. Judas stands erect, is in forward motion, and tightly clutching his silver coins. His intoned body is not idealized and a wash with thin layers of dark reds and burnt umber patinas suggest his intimate physical relationship with the common tropes used to identify him – despair, treachery, pride, and his earthbound partner in crime, the devil. His face is a portrait of extreme anxiety. He looks over his right shoulder with a sense of apprehension and urgency as if he has just realized the magnitude of what he has done; his furrowed brow and wide eyes underscore his angst. His left arm is missing. This is a death sentence, in and of itself, in certain parts of the ancient world. The physical interplay between Judas’s movements, to his right and to his left place him into a conceptual relationship with the Holy Trinity. He stands there, much like Adam did in the garden after he partook of the apple, naked and ashamed, contemplating the reality of his unprotected future.

The “Cup of Life” (bronze, 55”x25”x27”), is a reflection on the complex strategy of the Holy Communion and its relationship to the human psyche – without the graces of the sacrament it is very difficult to resist grave temptations and avoid grievous sin. The top heavy, hulking male tilts his large, bulbous headpiece down towards the viewer. It is a teaming cornucopia of morphing fauna and flora, and contorted faces. Tortoises also populate the scene: a massive one lunges on top, and several are scattered around the base. Since the tortoise is a symbol of longevity, perhaps the cup of life is held by Father Time and the headdress represents the energy and massive matter of the defining our universe. The continuous morphing of these plants, animals, and faces take on an interactive quality, and place the viewer in a front row seat at the primordial ooze. The man’s solid verticalness also resembles the truck of a tree and alludes to both the trees of Knowledge and Life, and thus, the fall of man.