{"id":1295,"date":"2009-11-19T12:25:32","date_gmt":"2009-11-19T20:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp\/2009\/11\/sympathy_for_soliders\/"},"modified":"2009-11-19T12:25:32","modified_gmt":"2009-11-19T20:25:32","slug":"sympathy_for_soliders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/2009\/11\/sympathy_for_soliders.html","title":{"rendered":"Sympathy for soliders"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the art world, there’s a remarkable outpouring of support for U.S. soldiers fighting on two fronts. Their government under Bush & Cheney lied its way into Iraq. Afghanistan was an afterthought. However justified a military response might have been for the latter, the result is a mess. Increasingly, the idea that there are better ways to win hearts and minds is gaining ground.<\/p>\n

In the late 1960s, soldiers coming home from Vietnam  rarely found anything but contempt from artists addressing the war. (He’s the universal solider and he really is to blame<\/a>.)<\/i> Forty years later, anti-war sentiment among artists is as strong as it was then, but denunciations of soldiers are rare.<\/p>\n

Below, a sample of what’s out there, from the U.S. and beyond.<\/p>\n

An-my Le<\/a><\/b>, from 29 Palms<\/i>, 2003-present. (Image via<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"AnMyLesolider.jpg\"Eli Wright<\/b>, from the Combat Paper Project<\/i><\/a>, 2009<\/p>\n

\"eliwrightcombat.jpg\"Jon Michael Turner<\/b>, from the Combat Paper Project<\/i><\/a>, 2008<\/p>\n

\"johnmichaelcombat.jpg\"Emily Prince<\/a><\/b>, from her series, American Servicemen and Women Who Have Died in Iraq and Afghanistan<\/i>. Included by Robert Storr in his 2007 Venice Biennial<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"emilyprincesoldiers.jpg\"Prince:
<\/font><\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/font> The numbers
\nkept coming up in the daily reports. Five here, fourteen there,
\none day after another. And then the growing figure mounting
\nover a thousand. Peripherally it was ever-present, but still
\nonly an abstraction. It was no longer enough to know how many.
\nI needed to see pictures of them, to familiarize myself just
\na tiny bit more with what was happening far from my warm home.
\nAnd it really isn’t much. It too is a mere summary, just
\none more step beyond bare numbers.<\/font>

\n<\/font>

\nYet for me it is something. It means spending time with each
\none. It is looking into their eyes to see who is now gone. It
\nis following the line of their brow and trying to perceive the
\nexpression there. It is a visual and visceral exploration of
\nthese individuals by way of their faces. It is my own eyes and
\nmy hand tracing out some very slight acquaintance with what’s
\noccurring.<\/font>

\n<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Krzysztof Wodiczko<\/b><\/a>, The Veterans’ Project<\/i>, 2009, ICA Boston<\/a><\/p>\n

Wodiczko to Boston Globe art critic Sebastian Smee:<\/p>\n

“The work I have made so far about veterans has been kind of ‘out
\nthere.’ I want this one to be more about ‘in here,’ ” he says, tapping
\nhis head.(more<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n


\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"veteransproj.jpg\"Eros Hoagland<\/a>, from Soldiers Fighting Our War In Iraq<\/i>, ongoing. Eros is the son of famed war photographer John Hoagland<\/a>, who died in El Salvador in 1984. He was 36.The bullet that killed him was U.S. Army issued.<\/p>\n

\"eroshoaglandiraq.jpg\"<\/p>\n


\nNicolas Grider<\/a><\/b>:
:
\"nicolasgridersoldier.jpg\"John Hartley<\/b>, Legs<\/i>, oil\/canvas,  from Glasstire review<\/a><\/p>\n

\"johnhartleywar.jpg\"Clayton Cotterell<\/a><\/b>,  Graduation Day<\/i> (Brother<\/i>)<\/p>\n

\"claytoncotteralbro.jpg\"Clayton Cotterell<\/b>, Boots<\/i><\/p>\n

\"claytoncotterboots.jpg\"Mildred Howard<\/b>, In the Line of Fire<\/i>, installation, via MetroActive<\/i> review<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"mildredhowardsolider.jpg\"Sherry Markovitz<\/b>, Boots On the Ground<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

\"sherrymarkovitzboots.jpg\"Barry Goldstein<\/b>, from Grey Land<\/i>, via<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"barrygoldsteinwar.jpg\"Judith Supine<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

\"judithsupinewar.jpg\"Martha Rosler<\/b>, from Bringing the War Home<\/i>, House Beautiful<\/i>, 2004 via<\/a>
\"martharoslerwar.jpg\"Hugh Syme<\/b>, cover art, via<\/a><\/p>\n

\"hughsymewar.jpg\"Peter Urban<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

\"peterurban.jpg\"From Israel, Rachel Papo<\/a><\/b>, 2004<\/p>\n

\"rachelpapoisrael.jpg\"Jason Hanasik<\/a><\/b>
\"jasonhanasiksoldir.jpg\"Stephen Andrews<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

\"StephanAndrewssold.jpg\"Jeff Wall<\/b>, via <\/a><\/p>\n

\"jeffwallsoldiers.jpg\"Sanchez Brothers<\/b>, via <\/a><\/p>\n

\"sanchezbrotherssold.jpg\"Tom Stoddart<\/b>, via <\/a><\/p>\n

\"tomstoddartsold.jpg\"Bryon King<\/a><\/b>, from Trophy Soldiers<\/i>
\"byronkingtrophy.jpg\"Platon<\/a><\/b>, from The New Yorker<\/i>, 2008 <\/p>\n

\"platonwargrave.jpg\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the art world, there’s a remarkable outpouring of support for U.S. soldiers fighting on two fronts. Their government under Bush & Cheney lied its way into Iraq. Afghanistan was an afterthought. However justified a military response might have been for the latter, the result is a mess. Increasingly, the idea that there are better […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1295","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1295\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}