Photo Gallery Gerald Laing's 'War Art'
British artist Gerald Laing has just completed his first Pop Art painting series in three decades. The work -- devoted to critcism of Bush, Blair and the Iraq war -- is being shown in London.
"These pictures make a point," Laing told the wire service Reuters. "They will always be there for people to see. Blair may be gone from office -- with Bush soon to follow -- but these images will endure. They are a constant reminder of these shameful events."
Laing believes that protest through art can still have an impact. "It didn't stop what is happening in Iraq and may not stop what may happen in Iran, but you can always hope," he said.
Laing disavowed Pop Art because of its "superficiality." And he has nothing but disdain for some of Andy Warhol's work. "I think Warhol's soup cans are an extraordinarily banal and boring idea," he told Reuters. "It requires a massive suspension of disbelief and a great deal of sloppy thinking to describe them as art." In the context of the Iraq war criticism, though, Laing said: "It works here."
