The Face of War

 

 

 

I admit to knowing little about art. I’ve been to museums. I know what I like. And, I enjoy expanding my horizons. However, for most of us art (more precisely, works of art) is something rich people collect.

Then, I came across the story about Daria Marchenko, a Ukrainian artist from Kyiv.

The 32-year-old took bullet casings and constructed a stark portrait she calls “The Face of War.”

The work of art stands at 8-feet tall and depicts Russian President Vladimir Putin in a pose of unflattering contortion. The empty bullet shells illustrate Putin’s deeply-seeded eyes and empty soul. “The Face of War” includes 5,000 shells gathered from Donbas in Eastern Ukraine, which has been Russian-controlled since 2014.

“A bullet shell is a symbol of an interrupted life,” Marchenko says.

Art is intended to make us think. Sometimes, art can make us smile or make us cry. Art can make us care. And on the rarest of occasions, art can even make us act.

“The Face of War” is bold. It’s beautiful. It’s grotesque. It’s evocative. It’s striking. It’s thought-provoking. It’s scary. It’s brilliant.

It’s everything great art should be.