APOTHEOSIS OF WAR

Oct 08, 2024

A white on black abstract rendering of the culmination of war. It stands with arms flung out as if declaring "look what I have wrought!" Horns sit upon its helm pointing up and outward in a slight arc. Eye slits sit high with a double opening between jagged cheek plates. The effect elongates the helm, an inhuman distortion that looks more devil than man. The collar and pauldrons are wide, overwrought and wickedly spiked. Open mouths scream from the underside, echoes of suffering or cries of bloodlust. The figure is skeletal with one bony foot exposed beneath long flowing tattered robes loosely wound with barbed wire. Lines across the fabric of its chest suggest ribs as if there's no other substance beneath but bone. The hands, however, are tense, anguished flesh with long curving nails as if saying the delicate instruments of war are all too human. Projecting like bladed weapons from each sleeve, the sleek heads of a dragon and a long-beaked demonic bird extend in a mockery of open arms. The snarling skull of an animal occupies the midsection like an oversized, baring fangs at the audience head-on. In the background appears to be the wreckage of a city. Desolate buildings stand tall, but many could be easily mistaken for gravestones at first glance. — APOTHEOSIS OF WAR (1992), Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 20" x 19"

People often ask me, "Where do you get your ideas?"

I always have so many that I don't think I'll live long enough to paint them all...and if I ever experience a shortage, I just have to pick up the morning paper.

This painting was a reaction to news of the fighting in Sarajevo in 1992, but unfortunately war as a topic for art will be universal and eternal.

This personal work was later used for the album cover for Dark Ages by Soulfly.

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Additional images from APOTHEOSIS OF WAR

LEFT: Detail APOTHEOSIS OF WAR featuring the embodiment of war rendered in white on black. Its arms and armor are an abstraction with wide spiky pauldrons bearing mouths open as if screaming. The helm too tall with extra cheek plates as if it contained more than one face. The abdomen is covered with an animal skull snarling out at the viewer. RIGHT: Album cover for DARK AGES by Soul Fly distributed by Roadrunner Records — Detail from APOTHEOSIS OF WAR and album cover for DARK AGES by Soulfly

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APOTHEOSIS OF WAR

Additional images from APOTHEOSIS OF WAR

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