Rainy day (The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial) 2025 graphite and gold leaf on marble, 15 3/4 x 28 1/2 inches. Private collection.
The silhouette that today forms part of The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial near the imposing Arlington National Cemetery originated in a controversial photograph taken in a devastated combat zone. The patriotic gesture, doubly manipulated, first by the photographer and then by the well-paid sculptor, undergoes a third realization. In the most recent chimera, drawn with delicate lines on a broken marble stone, fragility and impermanence are suggested, while simultaneously insinuating a new, fateful aura. The “patriots” raise the nation’s sacred flag, entangled in an intricate web that dilutes the content with what appear to be technological surveillance devices and banners of high-value stock market monopolies such as Hewlett-Packard, Tesla, Pfizer, and Apple. The intentional deconstruction is crossed with a gold cord—a kind of kintsugi (or kintsukuroi)—that recalls the vulnerability of its message. ‘Rainy Day’ suggests a melodrama that recalls heroism in history and the transformation of society’s values.