Bad Education - "The Past Is Never Dead. It's Not Even Past" > More Bad Education - "The Past Is Never Dead. It's Not Even Past"

Two young WWI era men, American eagle, ruined building
Down Them Sammy
oil on canvas
63 x 69"
2013

Down Them Sammy refers to a caption found on an antique cartoon from the First World War. " Sammy" was the name given to American soldiers by the British. Those "sammies”, young, brash men who engaged in that “war to end all wars" arrived with enthusiasm and even arrogance. But instead, it was a total war that scarred generations. An argument can be made that the wars we live with today can be traced to the politically motivated middle east territory partitions that were established by the western victors. The modern map of the middle east disregarded the cultural, religious and linguistic differences of its people. True to the historical background, I painted a narrative describing arrogance and destruction under the power of the American eagle.