Synopses & Reviews
An explosive conflict, as seen through the eyes of a war artist.Bagdad Journal is the outstanding culmination of four voyages to war-torn Iraq by artist Steve Mumford. In the long tradition of war artists, particularly Winslow Homer's work for Harper's Magazine, Mumford meticulously documents the everyday scenes of Iraq in bold, breathtaking watercolors and drawings and paints a human side of the war that can be lost in the immediacy of photographic and broadcast images.
Not overtly political, Bagdad Journal presents portraits of life from all sides of the polarizing conflict. With sketch pad and notebook in hand, Mumford illuminates the routine activities of a nation in turmoil-from the individual soldiers of American platoons to Baghdad residents going about their daily lives amid the chaos surrounding them.
There will be a traveling exhibit of artwork from Baghdad Journal and presentations by Mumford on his Iraq experience in conjunction with the publication of this book.
Review
"Though contemporary American art often flirts with politics, it is not usually noted for its head-on engagement with war. Yet some of the most compelling commentary on Iraq has come from a New York painter, Steve Mumford ." --
The New York Times"[Steve Mumford] comes from a great wartime tradition of something more enduring than the daily news . . . [He] helps us see a difficult war from yet another perspective." --Peter Jennings, ABC News: World News Tonight
About the Author
Steve Mumford is a New York City-based artist with the Postmasters Gallery in Chelsea. He has had numerous exhibitions, including five solo shows, since the late 1990s. He has taught at Cooper Union in New York and Montclair State University in New Jersey.