The Disappearing Of Julian Assange: The Archibalds
caitlinjohnstone.substack.com
The third mixed media piece in my online art exhibition about the way Assange's image is being methodically erased from the collective consciousness, "The Disappearing Of Julian Assange: The Archibalds": Featuring: "1000 Paper Tissues" Oil on canvas board, 10" x 14"
Wow, Caitlin, you are a very talented painter. It is your painting creativity that carries over to your writing or your writing creativity that influences your painting? In either case I feel so sad whenever I think of what Julian has gone though and how vicious the crushing power of the state can be,
That painting is so powerful the Archibalds damn well better give Julian and his Dad the prize.
Every so often, pix pop up with someone holding a picture, so why not a painting?
This reminds me very much of the days of the struggle against apartheid. The regime in South Africa prohibited Nelson Mandela’s portrait from being depicted in the country’s media for 27 years.
I have vivid memories of those days, we who only had pictures of Mandela just before he went to Robben Island as a reference, frozen in time. There was a picture of one demonstration that had an image that was a guess of how he aged in the late 1980s. But soon after, when word came of his upcoming release, there was this one picture that hit the press that finally showed him as physically came to be. It was immense to finally put a face that in the moment, truly was his!
Painting creates a powerful statement, that is why artists are so revered for their work. Art imitates life they say and your work brings his memory to life(not to say he is deceased) in a way that you use your voice to convey meaning, in fact, deeper than words.The disappearance of him is intentional, out of sight, out of mind. Yet you make sure no one forgets this hero, thank you.
Thank you for keeping Julian in view. When being firehosed from all sides it's easy to forget those they've tried to wash away. Good luck at the Archibalds!
I wish you well in this project, Caitlin. But as with everything in Australia, there will be so many other factors that determine the winner of this prize, artistic merit being well down on the list.
1. Do you have even a tiny element of indigenous blood in your veins being the most important in 2023.
2. As the Trustees are the judges, their particular ethnic backgrounds are critical to the vote
So forget the Archibald and hope that there are enough fair dinkum Aussie visitors to the gallery in person, to vote for the prize chosen by the public. Always the fairest measure of artistic merit.
Thanks for your ongoing advocacy for what has become Australia's greatest shame. The persecution and show trial of Julian Assange with the criminal actions of the USA, Sweden, Ecuador, the CIA, the farcical make-up of the British Court system and lastly, the pathetic weakness of so many Australian politicians. All parties.
Australia will never recover from this injustice in my thinking, equal in criminal motivation and arrogance to Australia's role in the East Timor bugging scandal.
Brilliant!!! I think you painted John Shipton AND Julian Assange well. I hope you win the Archibalds and get tons of press for Julian's plight. At the very least, you can take your thousand pictures of Julian and the portrait from life of his dad and take them on a tour across Australia... Maybe even to Europe and the US? That way, Julian's image and story will NEVER be out of the public's eye.
Thank you Caitlin!
Beautiful thought, impulse, concept and work.
Wow, Caitlin, you are a very talented painter. It is your painting creativity that carries over to your writing or your writing creativity that influences your painting? In either case I feel so sad whenever I think of what Julian has gone though and how vicious the crushing power of the state can be,
That painting is so powerful the Archibalds damn well better give Julian and his Dad the prize.
Fabulous. fabulous!!! art saves lives.
Brilliant idea... beautiful painting ♥️
Brava!
Every so often, pix pop up with someone holding a picture, so why not a painting?
This reminds me very much of the days of the struggle against apartheid. The regime in South Africa prohibited Nelson Mandela’s portrait from being depicted in the country’s media for 27 years.
I have vivid memories of those days, we who only had pictures of Mandela just before he went to Robben Island as a reference, frozen in time. There was a picture of one demonstration that had an image that was a guess of how he aged in the late 1980s. But soon after, when word came of his upcoming release, there was this one picture that hit the press that finally showed him as physically came to be. It was immense to finally put a face that in the moment, truly was his!
Painting creates a powerful statement, that is why artists are so revered for their work. Art imitates life they say and your work brings his memory to life(not to say he is deceased) in a way that you use your voice to convey meaning, in fact, deeper than words.The disappearance of him is intentional, out of sight, out of mind. Yet you make sure no one forgets this hero, thank you.
Thank you for keeping Julian in view. When being firehosed from all sides it's easy to forget those they've tried to wash away. Good luck at the Archibalds!
My disgust of the US & British illegal, immoral actions towards Julien holds no boundaries.
Thank you Caitlin for this incredibly inspiring and critical series on Julian
The public should demand "Proof of Life."
I wish you well in this project, Caitlin. But as with everything in Australia, there will be so many other factors that determine the winner of this prize, artistic merit being well down on the list.
1. Do you have even a tiny element of indigenous blood in your veins being the most important in 2023.
2. As the Trustees are the judges, their particular ethnic backgrounds are critical to the vote
So forget the Archibald and hope that there are enough fair dinkum Aussie visitors to the gallery in person, to vote for the prize chosen by the public. Always the fairest measure of artistic merit.
Thanks for your ongoing advocacy for what has become Australia's greatest shame. The persecution and show trial of Julian Assange with the criminal actions of the USA, Sweden, Ecuador, the CIA, the farcical make-up of the British Court system and lastly, the pathetic weakness of so many Australian politicians. All parties.
Australia will never recover from this injustice in my thinking, equal in criminal motivation and arrogance to Australia's role in the East Timor bugging scandal.
Brilliant!!! I think you painted John Shipton AND Julian Assange well. I hope you win the Archibalds and get tons of press for Julian's plight. At the very least, you can take your thousand pictures of Julian and the portrait from life of his dad and take them on a tour across Australia... Maybe even to Europe and the US? That way, Julian's image and story will NEVER be out of the public's eye.
Making 1,000 paper cranes.
It doesn't cure the disease but it may help keep someone sane.
💝
What a brilliant idea! Well done. Best wishes for a prize and visibility for Julian.
Beautiful and it’s terrible what they are doing to him