Artist's Statement
My most recent work, which I have been calling my untitled war series, focuses
on the disgraceful American occupation of Iraq, and more generally the Bush
Administration's bungled War on Terror. In these paintings and prints, three
of which are shown here, I try to produce works layered with a variety of images
- Abu Ghraib Prison, the sports pages of daily newspapers, old Japanese prints
depicting violence, and so on. My intention is to produce enigmatic pictures
that refer to both the abuse of prisoners (the worst of human behavior) and a
way of escape or transcendence from these horrors. The two other pictures are
part of an ongoing series celebrating male sensuality.
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Untitled War Series: Abu Ghraib
Bill Payden, 1970-1990
Photograph by Mike Mosall
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