The Art of War: Painting in the Age of Conflict: The Iran–Israel Conflict

By artWeb | 14 June 2025

Richard Mudariki (2024), HONDO (War).Oil on canvas356 x 120cm ( all five panels) Images courtesy of artHARARE

As missiles fall on cities and global powers brace for retaliation, the world is witnessing a conflict unfold that feels less like strategy and more like spectacle, a theatre of fire and fear. On 13 June 2025, Israel launched a massive, multi-pronged air assault on Iran, targeting over 100 strategic locations including the Natanz nuclear facility, military installations in Isfahan, and residential compounds of IRGC officials in Tehran. The operation dubbed "Rising Lion"was swift, brutal, and symbolic.

Iran responded within hours. “Operation Vow of Truth III” unleashed ballistic missiles and drones on Israel, striking both civilian and military targets in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The exchange marks one of the most serious escalations between the two regional powers in modern history, with ripple effects being felt from oil markets to international diplomacy. With Iran now threatening to target American, British, and French military assets if they intervene, the fear of a broader war looms large.

But what does this have to do with contemporary art? Everything.

Richard Mudariki (2024) 1 , 2 , 1 , 2 , 1 , 2 oil on canvas, 50 x 40cm (image courtesy of artHARARE)

In our April feature, The Art of War: Painting in the Age of Conflict, we explored how artists across the continent are turning to the imagery and psychology of war to understand the world around them. Zimbabwean artist Richard Mudariki’s central massive interactive painting HONDO (Shona for “war”) investigates the theatre of conflict not merely as destruction, but as choreography. Aesthetics of violence, military posturing, televised trauma, and symbolic power are central themes of his 2024 solo exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa. Now, in real time, the world watches again these themes move from canvas to headline.

This war is being staged for screens. Missile launches are framed for satellite imagery; ruins and funerals become propaganda; national leaders craft public statements like curators selecting wall texts. In this way, the Iran–Israel crisis mirrors the very ideas raised in Mudariki work, which is grappling with the spectacle of war. The aestheticization of violence is not accidental, it is strategic. And as with any powerful artwork, the goal is to make us feel something: fear, loyalty, vengeance, pride.

The broader question now echoing across social and diplomatic circles is chilling: Is this the start of HONDO III /World War III?

While experts caution against jumping to that conclusion, they agree the situation is dire. Both countries have escalated to levels not seen in decades. Allies are positioning. Oil

Richard Mudariki (2024) Pieta (in Private Collection Cape Town)

prices are climbing. Civilians are dying. And the world is watching, not just in horror, but through the lenses of media, history, and yes, art.

For Mudariki, the conflict is not merely a geopolitical crisis but a reminder: war today is as much about narrative as it is about force. His 2024 body of work does not just depict war, it interrogates how war is curated and consumed. From ancient cave paintings to social media and news livestreams, humanity has always illustrated its battles. But now, the lines between reality and representation are dissolving. War is no longer just fought; it is performed.

As we move deeper into this new age of global instability, artists, historians, and citizens alike must ask: what role do we play in shaping how these events are remembered, and more importantly, how they are resisted?

For now, the world holds its breath.

And the canvas, once again, is soaked with conflict.