Queror 6, oil on tactical fabric, because like the existential suffering of those who have worn the uniform in war, the uniform never comes off.
Monthly Archives: June 2015
Queror 5
Queror 5, oil on tactical fabric, because like the existential suffering of those who have worn the uniform in war, the uniform never comes off.
Queror 4
Queror 4, oil on tactical fabric, because like the existential suffering of those who have worn the uniform in war, the uniform never comes off.
Queror 3
Queror 3, oil on tactical fabric, because like the existential suffering of those who have worn the uniform in war, the uniform never comes off.
Queror 2
Queror 2, oil on tactical fabric, because like the existential suffering of those who have worn the uniform in war, the uniform never comes off.
Queror 1
Five years ago I began working with veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Like me, they’ve survived extreme encounters with history and culture. I wanted my work to engage their unique perspectives while communicating some of the deep indebtedness I felt for their sacrifices.
Inspired by something a young vet suffering from PTSD told me, the Queror portraits are painted directly on tactical fabric used by the US military. Camo forms the fabric that grounds the subject, and like the existential suffering of those who have worn the uniform in war, it never comes off.
Look Away Look Away Dixie Land
As I continue work on the Whistling Dixie series, I thought about Jasper Johns and his white targets.
I decided to revamp the worn-out pop image, so empty in gesture and meaning. I began by cutting up lyrics from “Dixie’s Land” as if I were creating a ramson note. The rest…well, see for yourself!
Why Don’t I Swim Back Home?
More from the Whistling Dixie series…
So why don’t I swim back home?
Because despite insults like this one…which was hurled at me by an ignorant racist in Miami Beach when I was still too intimidated to speak out against hate speech… I can read Hannah Arendt all I want and at the top of my voice without fear or persecution.
Here, I may have been insulted by more than one low-life, but I can breathe free here.
Not so back in Cuba.
Cuban artist Tania Bruguera was jailed by state security agents after staging a group reading of Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) at her Havana home, where she’s been held in house arrest for months.
Carolina A. Miranda of The Los Angeles Times‘s reports that the concurrent Havana Biennial is up and running as usual…no boycotts. Why?
I have a theory. Because even though Bruguera’s an internationally recognized artist, she’s female, and not worth all that much. Oh and she’s hispanic too, so again, not as economically valuable. She’s just a spic-chic so yeah, art business as usual.
Some bigotries are more obvious than others. You know?