Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Fusillade of Truth


If you have been a longtime fan of Thomas Kinkade, or even if you're just now tasting him for the first time, you will recognize that this is an artistic breakthrough of such magnanimous proportions, the oil painting world may never be the same.

Though many of us know Kinkade only as the master of idyllic, pastoral scenescapes and Christian themes, prepare to be spellbound by this new series, marked by gritty realism and biting social commentary. Such as his above "Fusillade of Truth."

LIE. The above is my very funny friend Tillman's creation, who I am reluctant to introduce you to lest you find him more funny than you find me. The inspiration was a conversation we had about his mass emails from Iraq, where he is currently stationed (and which makes this creative collaboration even more amazing). I likened reading his emails to sitting down to a feast of fancy, then delighting in the tasty morsels, letting ourselves become completely exposed and vulnerable, until he sticks us with the cold knife of truth. To which he replied, quote, "You will all be running away, skipping down the beach, half way to happyville, when the deadly whisper and hiss of a fusillade of arrows of truth slam into your backs."

Which, I think, is an insightful analogy for how the Iraq war has unfolded. Keep skipping, America! But don't forget to look back over your shoulder.

P.S. Tillman does work a lot, too. He doesn't just sit around and photoshop all day in Hussein's castle.

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