Leon Golub "Raw Nerve" at the Met Breuer - Disturbing and Powerful Portraits of Power Struggles

The large scale painting on canvas "Gigantomachy II" by artist Leon Golub (b Amer 1922-2004) was recently gifted to the MET.  It encompasses the entire wall of the entrance to the exhibit of Golub's paintings:  "Raw Nerve".  It is arresting and unnerving as intended by the artist.  The majority of works on display depict violence & power struggles which are repulsive and riveting.  Golub strikes out against social unrest, war, racial injustice and abuses of power on canvas.  He captures the horrors of humanity as he confronts the viewer with figures that at times resemble decaying bodies and facial features that show unmitigated terror.  Golub would scrape away layers of paint and this gives the figures a cadaverous and macabre aura.  There are also paintings depicting white privilege turning a blind eye to racial injustice.  He even portrays a white mercenary male abusing his status in a painting suggesting sexual harassment.  The figurative drawings reflect ancient Roman works whose subjects contend with war and violence.  Golub maintained that his work is "Not political art, but rather an expression of popular revulsion."  This is a powerful and even repugnant series of works which are painful images that serve as shameful reminders.