It’s an accepted fact
that Americans have little respect for history. Thomas
Plagemann, for his drawing, painting and photography, mines
a sense of the past to illuminate the present. His large-scale
paintings are inspired by photographs of early 20th century
military skirmishes. They evoke World War I, but exact
dates are unimportant. Plagemann is driven by an unexpected
visual appeal and perversity in these vintage images. His
canvases express a sense of visual power, in all senses
of the term.
At a time of war, these paintings exude
an insistent ambivalence. They stem from pervasive, morally
problematic questions about the appropriate use of deadly
military force. Plagemann offers no answers, but he imbues
problematic history with an industrious twist of the
narrative.
Plagemann explores the term ‘theater’ as
it relates to drama as well as battle. Male figures are
costumed in armor, gas masks and fatigues. He also directs
the scene with a command of painterly issues and technique,
rendering the masks as abstract veils of fleshy pink
and depicts faceless soldiers aiming at equally anonymous
enemies, men seemingly fused to automatic weapons. The
latter as objects are described with an almost sculptural
integrity. It’s troubling to conflate beauty with
the ugliness of warfare, but therein is the daring of
Plagemann’s vision – he shows us how the
allure of the unspeakable makes war a recurring component
of the human condition. |
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