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Long live Dr Refaat Alareer 
2024
Acrylic paint on canvas
Not for sale

Jo's piece features Dr. Refaat Alareer, a celebrated Palestinian poet, academic, and activist who was barbarically assassinated by Israel on December 6, 2023. The painting serves as a powerful tribute to Alareer, allowing the community to honour and remember his contributions and legacy. After being exhibited during several protests on the campus of University College London, the painting became a focal point for commemoration and reflection.                                                                                                                                                                              The unlawful confiscation by the UCL administration, supported by the Metropolitan police, raises questions about the institution's refusal to acknowledge the murder of its own alumnus and the significance of collective mourning. The act of confiscating the painting resonates deeply with broader themes of repression faced by Palestinians, where attempts to commemorate lives lost are often met with violence and suppression.
                                              
The artwork contrasts areas which are alive with deep flesh-like tones, with those that are weightless scaffolds for a body that once was. Viewers are invited to reflect on the vibrancy and incompleteness of memory during loss, as well as the mortality and immortality of martyrs. Dr Refaat Alareer lives on, and the artist encourages viewers to read his poem 'If I Must Die'.
 
While commemorating the anniversary of Refaat's assassination with a vigil, Warren's portrait was stolen once again by UCL in December 2024.

JO WARREN 

Jo Warren’s art aims to capture moments of tenderness and care: a family celebrating their infant son’s birthday on a beach at midnight; a grandmother preparing her grandchildren’s favourite dish; a woman braiding her lover’s hair. We live in the epicentre of a collapsing empire and it is becoming ever more destructive and oppressive towards bodies, relationships and truth. 
 
To achieve collective liberation, Jo believes we must maintain a clear vision of a better world, which is grounded in values of care and community. As the world becomes more vicious and surreal, artists play an extraordinarily crucial role in keeping this vision alive. 
 
Jo is deeply committed to the fight for Palestinian liberation and the interconnected struggles against imperialism, climate collapse, police violence and militarisation of borders. He perceives each to be a separate manifestation of a world order that seeks to extract, concentrate, and dominate wealth. 
 
Although Jo studies Neuroscience, he has become deeply disillusioned with the apoliticism and naivety of the scientific community, many of whom are now having a profound impact on the world in their work on AI.

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