CUZOR

STEVE CUZOR HENRY FLEMING'S BATTLE Dupuis 2024 Original plate no. 47. Signed. India ink and white gouache on paper 48 × 62 cm (18.9 × 24.41 in.) Faced with the violence of his first clash with the enemy, Henry turned his back on the battlefield and fled into the woods. Convinced he was being followed by others, he soon realized he was alone. And the sound of cannon fire catches up with him, as if to confirm that the fighting goes on without him. He begins a process of vindication that begins with a contempt for the artillerymen, who remain at a distance from the horror of hand-to-hand combat... This is Henry's whole drama. He runs away because he was afraid. The mass of others have held their ground: it is therefore he who is wrong, if only from a mathematical point of view. But rather than admit it to himself, he lies to himself, looking for good reasons and making fools or cowards of everyone else... He's not necessarily wrong in principle, but he's trapped in a logic of lies that seems to have no way out. S.C.