Andres Piccinoni

“All is Fair in Art and War”

My work in this show centers around the concept of war. Like art, war has been a never-ending constant in humanity’s history. Contrary to Art’s emphasis on beauty and creation, war can be generally categorized by death and destruction. Being polar opposites in these qualifications, I thought it would be both interesting and a challenge if I managed to convey the juxtaposition of art and war through a clash represented on different media and artworks. I explore how different cultures (Japanese, Puerto Rican, and Chinese) take upon expressing their sentiments on war and civil conflict and translate said sentiments into artworks that appropriately reflect these feelings.

My initial inspiration arose through my fascination with “foreign” cultures and their differing approaches in interpreting challenging subjects. As a result, I decided to tackle one of the ugliest, uncomfortable, and painful topics of all, war, and took it upon myself to turn this dastardly notion of pain on its head. One of my main goals was to undermine and distort the connotation of war into something colorful, beautiful, and not devoid of life. Gone would be the pain and suffering in exchange for a more contemporary examination focusing on the exploration of the “beauty” of war. I wanted to explore how war is both viewed and perceived through different lenses, not only through that of culture and geographical location but also that of the distinct mediums chosen for my artworks.

I decided to explore part of my Japanese perspective of war through the lens of old/feudal japan, as represented by “Oni”, my paper mache Samurai helmet. Such as the Japanese viewed dying in the field of battle with honor and great pride. The second half of the Japanese perspective would be explored through post-modern elements like that seen in the artwork “Going Berserk”, which takes heavy influences from the manga medium, and “Origami Tanks'' which greatly relies on modern Origami techniques. The Puerto Rican perspective, consisting of my Comparative Study piece titled “Verano ‘19” discussed and or tackled themes which include that of revolution and insurrection and the consequences of the ensuing conflict. The work of artists such as Leonardo Rivera, Pablo Picasso, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, and their depiction of war was of great inspiration to me. In particular, Picasso’s abstract distortion of his vaguely human figures inspired by “Guernica”. My final perspective centers around that of “instruments of war”, mainly weapons such as tanks and bullets. Initially taking inspiration from the famous photograph taken at Tiananmen Square, I based a large part of my exhibition on the role of tanks in warfare as a way to play off their imposing and intimidating nature. Artworks such as “Tiananmen Square Protest (Warhol)”, which pays homage to Andy Warhol’s distinctive and colorful style, takes advantage of the vibrant color palette at its disposal. On the other hand, works like “The World inside a bullet” take advantage of their instrument’s connotation, instead using this negative context to add depth and meaning to the artwork itself. In the case of this specific artwork, to shine a light on the gun manufacturing process prompted by the russian federation. What ties my artworks is the idea or eventuality of conflict and war. Whether it is a conflict taking place on the field of battle or a clash taking place through the form of insurrection or revolution. I chose these pieces as they each represent a different aspect of warfare. Some representing the more local and mundane side (Revolution) and others representing the explosive tactical warfare kind (Battlefield). I want my viewer to reflect on the atrocities of war, rather than viewing the artworks individually and in their own right, they should view them as a collective which tells the story of conflict and insurrection. I tried to distinguish the objects (instruments of war) from that of the scenery, as I typically represent the objects through 3D work (origami, Samurai helmet) and the scenery through 2D work (Bullet, Berserk).