OutsiderArt.info — online exhibition “Matt Sesow...WAR,” about two dozen anti-war paintings from December 2002

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Photographed by Matt Sesow from his press packets, October 18, 2026; text transcribed from the photos by Claude.

Matt Sesow War Paintings 9/5/03 9:12 AM
http://www.outsiderart.info/sesowwar.htm

OutsiderArt.info Presents

Matt Sesow...WAR
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Something's Not Right
i painted this piece on dec12,2002 shortly after the decision to begin deployment to kuwait had started. i was upset that we have so many social problems here in DC, yet we were sending so many funds and resources to go kill peo! ple in iraq. from my studio, i can clearly see the capitol building and andrew's airforce base (i can see the planes land and take off). the painting shows a small totem... a simple way to show hierarchy (social, economic, political, professional, racial, etc...) in america
around the outside of the painting it says 'this morning i looked out my window and saw a man defecate on a storefront, like a hippo in the zoo, a bomber take off from andrew's, a foreigner help an old lady into a cab, and the schools are closed because of rain, while caruso plays (with capitol)'

Kings Assassin
shows invading force (sent by a new 'king') coming into iraq. burning oilfield in background

No Shelter
shows an iraqi family trying to get shelter from the storm of cruise missiles i did this painting in reaction to the news that america would send/drop up to 600 cruise missiles within the first 2 days of war.

Wounded
shows an american soldier returning home missing his hand from the war. and his newfound self image attracted to a woman missing a foot. side note: i lost my left hand in a childhood accident (hit by a landing airplane), so many of my works deal with amputation and trauma)

Nowhere to go But Down
this work shows an iraqi plane dropping people as bombs. it portrays the desperate methods an outmatched opponent much take to try to stand up to a much stronger opponent. people on the ground represent the ancient history of mesopotamia.

surrender
war ali
sadam statue

War Call
a play on words, done in reaction, in february to the call to war.

Treacle Treat
shows the inspector general and 'turkey'... two major powers that are being 'pushed' b! y american policy to do the bidding of our government so that the attack can begin in haste.

Baghdad (Final Family Portrait)
i did this painting in january of 2003... shows what i think will be destroyed during coming war... the iraqi family and the structure showing the swords in baghdad

Country Run By Survivors
this painting deals with the fact that iraq will be run by iraqi survivors, that weren't killed by the invading troops.

[two untitled Uncle Sam figure images]
tank
stand

MVP
the idea here, as with most of these new pieces, is that the kids fighting just got out of highschool. here is an 'mvp' of some highschool sport in gas mask, screaming underneath the mask as his hand is amputated or blown off. burning oil field in background

March Madness
the madness of the war, the familiar phrase, double amputee can't play basketball anymore. burning oilfield in background.

Shock and Awe
shows figure in 'shock and awe' in gas mask with both hands amputated/blown off and thrown in the air, with two 'trauma scars' (to honor guernica, but personalized with amputation), burning oil field in background, trauma scar overwhelms the neck, crown of power has fallen.

War FBLA
growing up in the midwest, there was a lot of emphasis in high school to belong to groups and clubs that encouraged 'successful placement in american society'. fbla was a group i belonged to in high school called 'future business leaders of america'... here it is as a soldier in gas mask and stands for 'future business leader of arabs'...

War FFA
in Nebraska we had in high school the future farmers of america... this is the 'future farmers of the arabs'. hat has a windmill on it, anti-scar/ignorance symbol on neck.

Iraq 2003
highschool homecoming king in gas mask fighting war. anti-scar ignorance symbol and burning oil field

WarKing
burning oil field in background, ant-scar/ ignorance symbol

Honor Roll
american high school honor roll student in gas mask.. tank in background is irony of 'honor' as the tanks roll in to destroy. burning oil field in background. anti-scar on neck (individual not enlightened by experience)

Liberty Shield
self portrait of me in gas mask holding up arm. capitol building in the background. the homeland security department announced 'operation liberty shield' to protect the homeland yesterday.

Thank you to Matt Sesow for providing an amazing display of the backwash of WAR.

[Page 3 of 3, printed 9/5/03 9:16 AM. Note: captions are placed beside their pictures on the web page; the pairing of the page-3 captions with 'Iraq 2003', 'WarKing', 'Honor Roll' and 'Liberty Shield' follows the layout and content.]