His peaceful demeanor not withstanding, for almost seven decades Seymour Chwast has fought brush and nail on the front lines of what is decidedly an endless war against war. His frequent salvos of acerbic visual commentary against warfare are welcome alternatives to drum rolls and saber rattlings. His Vietnam era poster "War Is Good Business Invest Your Son" was a peace movement mantra, and the acerbic "End Bad Breath," with bombs being dropped on Hanoi in Uncle Sam's open mouth, is an icon of anti-war graphics in the tradition of artist/critics, including Felix Vallotton, Georg Grosz, Franz Masereel, who have published antiwar bombshells.
This exhibition looks at some of Chwast's arsenal. It also marks the launch of a Kickstarter campaign to help finance his indictment of warfare. Seymour Chwast at War with War: An Illustrated Timeline of 5000 Years of Conquests, Invasions, and Terrorist Attacks is a illustrated record of world conflagrations that have taken their toll. It is also a testament to Chwast's continued deployment of art and design to protest mankind's worst scourge.
For Chwast there are no just or injust wars, only invasions, conquests, interventions and terror where destruction is the means to all ends. War suspends all norms. Whether defensive or aggressive, liberating or subjugating, all wars are ultimately transgressive acts where culture and humanity are held hostage to ideology, greed and power. Although Chwast's art won't put an end to war, it invites us to think about the consequences – and, more important, who ultimately benefits from the spoils.
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