Artist concept rendering of the work ‘For Every Drop Shed in Anguish’ (2023) by Alex Seton, which is currently being installed for permanent display in the Australian War Memorial’s Sculpture Garden. Image: MrP Studios. Courtesy Alex Seton and the Australian War Memorial..
Warning: the following story discusses suicide.
For centuries, artists have made a point of showing us the undersides of war and its consequences. Francisco Goya’s Disasters of War series painted during Napoleon’s occupation of Spain in the early 19th century is a good example. Otto Dix lithographs showing the realities of the World War I trenches is another, and Picasso’s Guernica made in response to a dark and brutal moment during the Spanish Civil war, endures as a universal statement about war’s horrors.
ArtsHub's Arts Feature Writer Jo Pickup is based in Perth. An arts writer and manager, she has worked as a journalist and broadcaster for media such as the ABC, RTRFM and The West Australian newspaper, contributing media content and commentary on art, culture and design. She has also worked for arts organisations such as Fremantle Arts Centre, STRUT dance, and the Aboriginal Arts Centre Hub of WA, as well as being a sessional arts lecturer at The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
