Dear Visual Artists Guild. Attached you will find 10 selected images and their description along with my artists statement. Best Regards, Nils Henrik Sundqvist For more on my art please visit: http://www.21centurypainting.com Artist Statement: My art deals with a variety of social and political topics, ranging from local issues to broader themes, expressing the effects of 'western' global power on society. My aim is to move the viewer to become aware of issues of social importance while also seing art and politics as an every day part of our lives. I want people to be conscious about how they feel about the art and its content and where they stand within the issue being addressed. Figurative elements present an avenue to this awareness for a broader audience. My work deals with issues such as gun violence and racesism. For example the silkscreen prints "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, SpeakNo Evil" represent my reaction to the gun policies. This piece was triggered by the Columbine Highschool shootings in 1999. In addition, the silkscreen on canvas "41 Bullets" takes on the racial politics of the police when dealing with people of color in this country. Although demonstrating the art of a printmaker, my silkscreen work more closely resembles the style of a painter, fusing elements of both classical drawing and Pop Art. The melding of thick layers of paint and printed marks from my drawings offers the viewer an interesting cocktail of painting and print. My drawings serve as studies and are used as an early stage for my engravings and black and white silkscreen work. Both drawings and engravings use a traditional medium to represent both traditional subjects and societal issues. For example, the engraving "The Great Urban Sprawl" portrayes the global issue of 'black-topping" the environment as expressed through a local environment, the Sonoran Desert. The aim of my art is to spark a response from viewers, a response which leads to a dialogue and perhaps to a greater understanding. And what better means is there than the art of the pencil, scriber, or brush. description of each piece, including media, dimensions and an explanation of the intent of the work and it's relation to the principles of Social Liberties and Democracy. Slide List: (all my slides have the extension "_nhs". These are my initials of my full name Nils Henrik Sundqvist and also how I sign all my work.) 1.) Corporate God_nhs.jpg Medium: silkscreen on canvas, 100 x 100 inches, 2003 Intent: Pacifica Radio newly launched show "Democracy Now" featured their documentary "Killing And Drilling" in 1996, exposing the wrong doings of Shell in Nigeria. At that time I still lived in the oil capitol of the South, Houston Texas, with George W. Bush as governor. The painting also plays off the German painter Hans Hollbein who's realistic style of depicting a rotting body as Christ drew much anger and criticism of the church. I used his main image to draw attention to the abuse of power of large corporations, specifically oil corporations, and to expose their intentions by featuring a dead body surrounded by oil logos and a caribou loosing it's natural habitat thanks to our 'fossil fuels energy backed' White House. The painting has a religious undertone, displaying Jesus on his death bed, showing Adam and Eve holding up $ signs and the 5 panels forming an up side down cross. 2.) Corporate God_bw_nhs.jpg Medium: silkscreen on paper, 17.5 x 67.5 inches, 2001 Intent: A black and white version of the larger canvas. The word corporation incorporates "Corpus" - body. It's unheard of that a company has the same rights as a human being. The stark image again draws a parallel between the criminal actions of oil companies and the unimportance of human and all life. Corporate greed does not know peace and democracy. 3.) 41 Bullets_nhs.jpg Medium: silkscreen on canvas, 30 x 48 inches, 2003 Intent: In 1999 Amadou Diallo was massacred on the streets of New York by 41 bullets. None of the 4 police men involved were charged. As a matter of fact, two are still in active police duty. Since then the mother of Amadou filed a law suit for 4 Million $, which she won, and founded a foundation http://www.amadoudiallofoundation.org The piece talks about racial profiling and police brutality. 4.) 41 Bullets_bw_nhs.jpg Medium: silkscreen on paper, 43 x 36 inches, 2003 Intent: The 41 bullets, the gun and Amadou's wallet which he wanted to draw out of his pocket are all displayed in the somber print. The Skull bears a label of the NYPD - a messenger of death. 5.) see_hear_speaknoevil_nhs.jpg (Se No Evil. Hear No Evil. Speak No Evil) Medium: 3 panels, silkscreen on paper, 36 x 24 inches, 2001 Intent: The Columbine High-school shootings triggered this work. Gun violence and the negligence of creating laws which protect us from the gun lobbyists and such sad tragedies which happened on April 20th, 1999. I meant the triptych to be a universal statement against violence and about our ignorance and apathy towards social change, about not enforcing stricter gun laws and promoting violence in the media. 6.) Death_etching_nhs.jpg Medium: etching/aquatint on paper, 13 x 27 inches, 2003 Intent: Again, this piece was influenced by a recent incident - the sniper shootings in Washington, DC. Although the criminals used rifles and not hand guns, the hand gun held by the skeleton hand in this print is supposed to symbolize the bringer of death. More guns in this country don't bring more security - only more death, suffering and insecurity. 7.) Death_drawing_nhs.jpg Medium: drawing on paper, 9.5 x 21 inches, 2002 Intent: I recently saw a bumper sticker:" Guns don't kill, only people do." The irony of this statement is that in all cases of gun violence a gun was present. If we wouldn't have weapons we would maybe look for other means, e.g.. communication to solve conflict. 8.) The Great Urban Sprawl_nhs.jpg Medium: etching/aquatint on paper, 25 x 11 inches, 2002 Intent: The print portrays the global issue of 'black-topping" the environment. Every hour an acre goes under the blade in Tucson AZ, destroying the natural beauty of the area and the cause why so many people move there. This trend of reducing our natural habitat is worldwide and needs to be stopped. 9.) Bird Beat_nhs.jpg Medium: silkscreen/acrylic on canvas, 70 x 110 inches, 1999 Intent: I switched in 1997/98 from eating red meat to white meat, not realizing that the damage to the animals in the mass farming industry is still the same. The only thing which changed is the size of the 'product'. Inhumane conditions of slaughter houses and the amount of meat I (we) are consuming in rich western countries goes beyond any rationale. 10.) Proper Property_nhs.jpg Medium: silkscreen and paint on canvas, 80 x 30 inches, 1999 Intent: Having lived in Houston Texas for 4 years I noticed that many properties were fenced off - "No Trespassing!" . Wether I looked at somebody's property in the city who's villa obviously reflected a rich life style or driving in the country side of West Texas I faced walls, fences, dogs and signs telling you that you should stay out. These properties were all protected by some sort of sign language. Rather than welcoming you they displayed signs of mistrust, angst and the habit of keeping things to yourself which maybe is a relict from our animal ancestors. Henrik Sundqvist