Afghanistan Soldiers

Art right now is different than it has ever been, and in particular war art is of a wholly different genre than in any generations previous. Historical pictures of soldiers tend to portray the soldiers in strong, bold positions, while the rise of photography brought a more humane, but distinctly hard appearance to the idea of war. The new war art portrayals, in contrast, suggest a more human innocence to these Afghanistan soldiers. The following different types of war art are exemplars of the new types of war art coming out of this generation, in particular with regards to Afghanistan soldiers.

1. Murals

One particular war art mural is currently being done by Canadian artist Dave Sopha. He is currently in the process of painting a long mural that includes the faces of all 113 Canadian Afghanistan soldiers who have died thus far into Canada’s military action. His mural is not like war art of past times, however; rather than the bold, full body, intense looking portraits that characterized war art in history, he paints just slightly smiling faces, all looking out of the canvas, innocent and brave.

2. Poetry/Art Slams

The blog “Talking About Peace” every Saturday holds a poetry/art slam for Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers and veterans. They keep a log of past slams, which have published art, photography, and poetry by Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers, representing their experiences in some way. Another group, the Warrior Writers Project, encourages Afghanistan soldiers to express themselves through writing, and in particular poetry. It holds writing workshops with veterans and has published several books of their work, bringing a true soldier’s perspective to this war art, and truly exploring the feelings of being among Afghanistan soldiers.

3. Textiles

The aforementioned Warrior Writer’s Project has started a project called the Combat Paper Project which holds workshops showing soldiers how to make paper out of the fibers of their old uniforms. In this way, they have paper made from their blood and sweat, that has later been used to make books, journals, and broadsides. This war art provides catharsis for the Afghanistan soldiers by allowing them to release pent up feelings and emotions, but also helps spread the knowledge of a war society through these Afghanistan soldiers’ representations.

4. Coasters

One website, Warlords of Afghanistan, is now selling coasters that depict, on the front, an Afghanistan warlord while, on the back, a number of facts about the warlord are summarized. Though this is not exactly war art, it contributes to the kinds of war art we nowadays find acceptable. The portrayals of the warlords are caricatures which, though not a recent phenomenon, have rarely been treated so lightly in history (as a coaster). This, it can be supposed, serves to lampoon these warlords, thus conducting a sort of media war in the public against them.

Artworks Destroyed in Iraq

One of the greatest cultural disappointments since Americans sent soldiers in Iraq was the chaos that allowed for the destruction of various artworks across the country, both by the soldiers in Iraq, along with plenty of civilian looters, as well as tangential bombings. Moreover, at this point, the lack of records and art infrastructure has made it so that many of the destroyed artworks have not even been recorded or noticed in their disappearance. In some ways, however, this destruction represents a new type of artwork that showcases the destruction of the old artwork as belonging to the past before Americans put soldiers in Iraq, back in the time of Saddam Hussein.

1. Murals

One of the more common and visible artworks of Iraq, and of Baghdad in particular, was the result of a community mural project which looked to place artworks all over the city. These murals appear to have been created by locals, though their consistent subject matter of soldiers in Iraq, both Iraqi and various other soldiers, and almost always with Saddam Hussein looking genially over the scene, appear to have been state-sponsored. Though Americans may not understand their draw, and many Iraqis seem to dislike at least part of the subject material, these artworks are certainly part of the local culture. Unfortunately, photographs of foreign soldiers in Iraq destroying these murals have been widely circulated, further suggesting this great disparity between cultures.

2. Baghdad Museum Artworks

Some of the most well known destruction of artworks since Americans have placed soldiers in Iraq happened at the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad which was severely looted and destroyed. To this day it is unclear how many artworks were lost, with some people suggesting numbers well over one hundred and fifty thousand pieces, while the director-general of restoration at the Iraqi Antiquities Department has claimed that the vast majority of the artworks were saved by storing them in vaults designed to protect them against bombings. American soldiers in Iraq in particular have taken a lot of flak over their failure to protect these artworks, though contradicting reports suggest that some of the looters were highly organized and knowledgeable, while others suggest that the looting may have been greatly exaggerated. In any case, it is definite that some amount of looting went on, and worldwide organizations have begun to gather pictures of the looted artworks, looking to publish them in hopes of an eventual recovery.

3. Saddam paraphernalia

One of the most publicized images after Americans sent soldiers in Iraq to depose the leader was the toppling statue of Saddam Hussein. Indeed, American soldiers in Iraq were quick to notice the number of artworks hailing the regime of Saddam around the country. After the complete invasion, however, many of these pieces were destroyed, somewhat by soldiers in Iraq, but often enough by civilians who had been displeased by the previous regime. Though it is, in some sense, a tragedy that these representations of a certain period were destroyed, their destruction has spawned a whole new series of artworks, including photographs and reworked copies of the originals that signify the destruction as the end of an artwork era in Iraq.

Unusual Artwork from Iraq

Since the invasion of Iraq, there has been a great cultural thirst in the rest of the world to view Iraqi artwork. So far much of this has had to do with typical war art, including various photographs, generally of a soldier in his day to day life, or of civilians in the same. There have, however, been a number of unusual art pieces that have been made public or simply made as a result of this invasion. Some of these pieces are showcased in a gallery, though their matter is unusual, while others are in less gallery-oriented medias.

1. Signs of destruction

Some of the most moving artwork from Iraq right now is that having to do with the destruction of parts of the country, and which showcases twisted remnants of this destruction. One gallery in Baghdad is currently holding an exhibition of sculptures made from the wrecked remnants of war materials. These sculptures include a flower fashioned from a machine gun barrel lost by a soldier, while a sculpture of fish is made from bullet casings. In contrast to much of the war art relating to Iraq right now, this gallery and its artwork does not showcase the invasion, or any particular soldier; instead the characters represented among the abstract images include Atlas and Nefertiti, and are meant to promote love and peace. In contrast, another traveling gallery has been toting around a car destroyed by a suicide bombing to cities worldwide, attempting to suggest the pain suffered by both civilians and the average soldier stationed in Iraq.

2. Saddam’s personal gallery

There is a somewhat well known photograph making its way around currently that depicts an American soldier standing in front of a fairly raunchy picture of a woman and a man, both mostly naked and struggling with some sort of bindings, in front of a strange beast. This picture, actually, was taken in front of Saddam Hussein’s personal gallery in his house. By all reports, his personal gallery was actually loaded with this style of painting that appear to have been taken from the cover of “bodice-ripper” harlequin romance novels. In fact, as was later revealed, the soldier in the gallery was actually standing in front of the oil painting done by American painter Rowena for the romance novel by “Shadows Out of Hell”, and was not the only painting in the gallery that actually was from one of these such novels, as shown in photographs taken by another soldier. In fact, a number of worldwide sources have unanimously described the taste of this gallery as absolute dreck.

3. Student films

Despite the interruptions of war and the suspicions of the odd soldier or civilian, one group of students in Iraq has enrolled in a free film school where the students look to make films detailing their personal experiences. Unlike many of the documentaries that have come out so far, these do not follow around a soldier or diplomat, enter the Green Zone or go inside army bases. Instead, these documentaries interview civilians and showcase the day-to-day life of a real civilian in Baghdad, on the streets of the dangerous parts of the city, and show the rest of the world not the life of the soldier that is so often portrayed, but the average life of real civilians.

Iraq Soldiers

Though many people prefer to support troops by sending commodities or writing letters, using artwork is a great way to support troops in Iraq is by using art. Even for people who have little or no artistic background, this can be an extremely touching way to personalize letters to Iraq soldiers, or to raise awareness to support troops. If you have any inclination toward supporting Iraq soldiers, the following suggestions are ways to incorporate your artistic abilities with this support, in a helpful, creative way.

1. Artistic letters

Sending letters to Iraq soldiers is a great way to support troops, and a common act. While sending letters is a great practice, sending a little piece of artwork, or a highly decorated letter can be even more touching. Better yet, if a drawing can be included with the letter that will help the Iraq soldiers to remember easier or happier times, this can be a great way to support troops in an artistic way.

2. Portraits

A growing trend among artists looking to support troops in Iraq is to paint portraits of deceased soldiers, or photograph current soldiers, usually free of charge to give to the families of these Iraq soldiers. These are always appreciated, and with the number of Iraq soldiers that this military operation has included, there is no shortage of soldiers’ families to appreciate this work.

3. Artwork to support troops

In times of military action, any act that can support troops is welcomed. A great way to do this is to create artwork that will support troops in Iraq, such as posters that will promote contributions or images of Iraq soldiers that raise awareness and sympathies that lead to increased support for Iraq soldiers. Alternately, murals or collages promoting troop support done in either public areas or personal spaces, and possibly sold to raise money for further support would be a great way to contribute.

4. Personalized effects

Iraq soldiers absolutely need plenty of different personal effects, food, and hygiene products. A great way to support troops would be to send over some of these personal effects that have been even more personalized. For instance, if sending over a case to hold some items, consider decorating the case. If sending mirrors, consider decorating the frames. No doubt plenty of these everyday items could be decorated in a variety of ways to make them extremely personalized. Any sort of personal touch is likely to be greatly appreciated in the emotional support troops would undoubtedly feel.

War Heroes

Throughout history, war heroes have traditionally liked extremely heroic war art done of themselves. Of course, this tends to have been done before the time of photography, however the photography tended to inhibit the extravagance and exuberance of war art, in favor of a more realistic and less dressed up version of events. For that reason, among others, war art of the past seems to be particularly favored, though fairly out of style, both for its disassociation with reality and for its glorified ideals.

1. To commemorate

Often, war art of war heroes is made to commemorate a particularly notable event or proud moment. In particular, before records were as well preserved and as accurately kept, war art was a great way to provide what externally appeared to be an incredibly accurate portrayal of events and of the war heroes. Moreover, in the days when the victors told the only stories, war art seemed both more officious and more believable than stories told by the subjugated and uneducated.

2. To intimidate

As people who study the subject know, history has a tendency of giving war heroes accolades that they hadn’t originally received. For instance, one of the most well known war art pieces is the painting of Napoleon on a rearing horse, known as Napoleon Crossing the Alps, which is widely known to be almost entirely fictionalized. In reality, it was probably a hard trek across unforgiving mountain passes, though the picture of Napoleon gallantly leading his forces on to victory is what is mostly remembered. In general, however, anyone at the time who would have seen one of these paintings (there were five of them, so it is likely that a number of people saw them) would have thought far more impressive thoughts of Napoleon.

3. To remember

Though paintings and the like are much harder to come by than photographs, paintings were used in the same way that we use photographs today. War heroes would commission war art in order to remember an event, or to pass down so that subsequent generations would remember. Furthermore, war heroes would use their own portraits as artwork in their own houses as decoration, but also to represent their greatest events to visitors.

4. To “educate”

Of course, war heroes want themselves and their events to be remembered in just the right way. By having war art created that memorialized the war heroes’ greatest deeds, the war heroes could give these pieces to other rulers and dignitaries in favor of spreading rumors of these deeds.

War Art

Right now one of the most common forms of “war art” made specifically to support troops is portraits. These portraits are often drawings or paintings of fallen soldiers that are done pro bono by local artists and then shipped to the families of the fallen soldiers. However, there are a number of different groups that are currently trying to support troops by disseminating paintings both of these fallen soldiers, all in different mediums, and of veterans, and to raise awareness of the troubles of war. All of the following projects look to support troops worldwide, and honor those who have given their lives, though they are just a small taste of the support troops have been receiving from the citizens of America.

1. Soldier Portraits

This project looks to photograph portraits of soldiers, but does so on a collodion wet plate in the same process used to document most of the Civil War. Each soldier receives a copy of his or her portrait, while the rest of the exhibit travels to different galleries promoting the project and raising awareness, both for fallen soldiers, and, ultimately, the veterans who come home, all in order to support troops in America and abroad.

2. Fallen Soldiers Tribute/http://www.soldiersportraits-mwilcox.net/

This tribute is run by Martha Wilcox who does watercolors of fallen soldiers and sends them to the families of these fallen soldiers at no cost. She does them, she says, “as a personal tribute and expression of admiration and gratitude.” She goes onto explain that while she cannot support troops in every way, this is what she can do.

3. The American Fallen Soldiers Project

This project is another one of those that looks to provide free portraits of fallen soldiers to the families of said fallen soldiers, in order to support troops. This artist paints these portraits of fallen soldiers to commemorate their lives and their sacrifices, he says.

4. Honor the Fallen

This organization makes quilts remembering fallen soldiers, either alone or with the help of the family and friends of said soldiers. Its aim is to remember, and to support troops still stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. These quilts for fallen soldiers are displayed all around the country as a tribute to the sacrifice given.

5. I Will Soar Again

This page looks to support troops by being a place where messages can be left by citizens around the world, expressing gratitude and respect to fallen soldiers, veterans, and to soldiers still serving.

Washington Crossing the Delaware

Paintings of soldiers tend to be grand, heroic works that represent both bravery and suffering, reality and idealism. The following paintings cover the whole spectrum, and represent the ideals of each of these different feelings, in their own ways. Moreover, all of these paintings are incredibly famous, not just as a representation of war and of soldiers, but as a masterpiece of artistic creation, both in technique and interpretation.

1. Washington Crossing the Delaware

These paintings (there are many copies) of General George Washington crossing the Delaware River was painted by Emanuel Leutze. These paintings depict George Washington in a boat with a bunch of his soldiers rowing across the freezing Delaware River to launch a surprise attach against the Hessian soldiers currently stationed in Trenton.

2. Napoleon Crossing the Alps

These paintings (there are five copies) depict Napoleon Bonaparte on a rearing horse en route to crossing the Alps. In the background are a number of soldiers with whom he is making the journey. These paintings are known for being highly stylized, but are still considered great masterpieces of production.

3. The Night Watch

This painting is one of the most famous works by Rembrandt that depicts a number of soldiers getting ready to leave on a campaign. This painting is actually incorrectly named, but was coated with a dark varnish for most of its modern existence, giving it the appearance of taking place at night, though that was not the intention. It was commissioned by the Captain portrayed in the painting and his 17 soldiers, all of whom appear in the painting. It is one of a series of seven similar paintings the same soldiers commissioned under all different artists.

4. The Third of May 1808

This painting by Francisco Goya depicts a number of soldiers taking prisoners. It is said, along with The Second of May 1808, to commemorate Napoleon’s capture of the Spanish resistance. It is said to be one of the first paintings that depicted the humanity of war, since the captured prisoners look terrified and shocked in a way that is not normally depicted in the heroic portraits of history, most especially of soldiers.

5. Guernica

This is perhaps the most famous of all Pablo Picasso’s paintings. Despite being quite abstract, it clearly depicts the suffering of civilians during the bombing of Guernica by German and Italian soldiers.

Commemorating Soldiers

Art has long served as a form of expression for releasing emotions and making points on life or thought in general. All of the following art exhibits commemorate a soldier or soldiers in the pieces of artwork they contain. Each art exhibit looks to bring emotion or feeling to some part of the process of war, often to raise awareness. Most importantly, each art exhibit here strikes emotion in the heart of the viewer, and raises a sympathy for the soldier and the plight of soldiers in general. However, each following art exhibit is not exactly what most people would think of as an art exhibit. Instead, they each have the qualities of art; of trying to bring an emotion and an understanding to the world of being a soldier.

1. Soldier

This series of photographs is of nine soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. These are portraits done of the nine men between tours, which have been set up as an art exhibit on billboards around the country. This project was supported by a Vancouver art group, but this particular art exhibit, shown at soldiersface.com, has been just to memorialize each soldier. In addition, a more extensive art exhibit by the same artist is currently on display at the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, PA with a wider variety of portraits, each of an individual soldier, along with a complementary art exhibit of drawings and watercolors done by Michael Fay, a Marine veteran.

2. War Veteran’s Vehicle

This was an art exhibit in London that examines the effects of war on British soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. This art exhibit projects single interviews each with a single soldier who speak about things such as PTSD, suicide, and the difficulty of being a war veteran. These videos were projected from vehicles onto public buildings, and were supposed to emphasize the importance of getting help for a soldier who may feel isolated upon his or her return.

3. Fallen Heroes Project

This art exhibit is less of an exhibit and more of a project to provide comfort to the families of each individual soldier whose family signed up. It does an individualized portrait of the fallen soldier and sends it to his or her families, all free or charge. They keep a complete gallery online, however, or all the portraits, which stand as a sort of art exhibit to these fallen soldiers.

4. In Conflict/Black Watch

Neither of these is specifically intended as an art exhibit, though both of them provide an artistic feel to the life of a soldier. These are both plays that look at war from the eyes of a soldier, and seek to inform the viewer about the difficulty and struggles of a soldier at war.

War Heroes

Around the world, in every war fought by people, there are war heroes to which other citizens inevitable owe their lives and to whom they pay their respects. In America alone there are thousands of memorial to war heroes which collectively receive millions of visitors annually. The difficulty of these memorials to our war heroes is that they are scattered around the country, making it difficult for people distances away to pay their respect to the war heroes they so admire. Fortunately, the internet offers a wonderful variety of sites, each with a picture gallery that stand in testament to all sorts of war heroes around the world, both providing a dissemination of the names and deeds of these war heroes, and allowing those who already with to pay their respects to view a gallery without the difficulty of long distance travel.

1. Lettersfront.org

This website has a gallery of pictures of Jewish war heroes who served in Word War II. In addition, they have stories, documents, music, and a number of other electronized artifacts set to commemorate these war heroes in their gallery.

2. IraqWarHeroes.org/AfghanistanWarHeroes.org

This website (the two addresses link to the same site) maintains an incredible gallery of every fallen soldier in these respective wars. The gallery contains pictures of the fallen war heroes and a profile for each and, in addition, contains pictures of the memorials and tributes to the soldiers that the moderator personally photographs. Besides this, it offers resources on PTSD for people and soldiers struggling with it. This gallery is, without a doubt, one of the most extensive memorials to soldiers for these past wars maintained by a private citizen and has won earned accolades for it.

3. War Dogs

This particular profile contains a huge gallery in memorial to unusual war heroes: war dogs. These are dogs that are used to sniff out mines, protect soldiers, and offer other services. Though these war heroes are unusual, this resource also has a few stories that describe the wonderful services these animals provided, and maintains media of Vietnam War memorabilia, from when these war dogs were commonly used.

4. supportourwarheroes.net

This website runs a foundation dedicated to supporting American soldiers from the Iraq or Afghanistan wars, most especially those who maintained life-altering illnesses. It also maintains a gallery of war heroes and the events that the foundation hosts, as well as a few videos of made in tribute.

War Memorial

There are artworks all over the country that memorialize our nation’s soldiers. Some of these soldiers have fought for America in our wars, while some were soldiers living in America that fought against the officially recognized “America”. No matter what, however, the following artworks are some of the most well known in this country, both in memorializing soldiers and as general artworks. Of course, all of these are a testament to our nation’s belief in its soldiers, and the important of having artworks, among other forms of gratitude, stand as a lasting remembrance of their sacrifices.

1. Crazy Horse Memorial

This memorial perhaps has the record for the longest ongoing creation of any current artworks. It is a sculpture of the Oglala Lakota Crazy Horse, one of the most famous Native American soldiers of all time. It was begun in 1948 by a sculptor who died in 1982 and left his wife and ten kids to finish the project. They have repeatedly refused funding offers from the United States government and so work at a fairly slow pace. The face was completed in 1998, after 50 years, and is big enough to house all four of the faces on the nearby Mount Rushmore.

2. U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial

This memorial of six figures raising a flag is perhaps one of the most famous American depictions of soldiers. This massive statue is based upon an extremely famous photograph of the same thing. Upon seeing this photograph, the sculptor was purportedly so moved that he decided to create one of the most famous artworks in the US of these exact soldiers. It currently stands in Washington DC as a memorial to all deceased Marine soldiers.

3. Stone Mountain

Stone Mountain is an extremely large monadnock in Georgia on which three infamous soldiers of the Confederate side of the Civil War are carved, comprising the largest bas-relief in the world. The three soldiers Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis are carved as 90 foot artworks. This mountain is famous as a monadnock as well, being extremely prominent, but draws most of its visitors for the artworks carved on its side.

4. Fallen soldiers memorial

This memorial is actually a series of artworks all over the country all of the same thing. These statues depict a soldier’s boots with a gun sticking up vertically and a soldier’s helmet on top. These artworks are placed anywhere that fallen soldiers are to be commemorated, and have thus been placed all over the country, commemorating soldiers of almost every campaign.