“Otto Dix's series of 50 prints, Der Krieg, modeled on Goya’s series Los Desastres de la Guerra, is not only an account of his own horrific experiences, but also a masterclass in etching. I always wanted to test myself like that. And when I see and hear the ongoing reporting of wars, of harsh things we do to each other, I feel I have to do something in order not to be complicit. And being an artist all I can do perhaps is draw. And draw attention to what matters.
The last few years we have been surrounded by conflict in the Middle East.
With countless refugees, people like you and I, and endless reporting on the ongoing destruction, it is impossible not to be deeply affected by it. Like most people in the West, I have no direct experience of war, but nevertheless I ask myself how I myself how I would behave in such a lawless and fearful situation.”
A set of The Crying Game prints is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford and the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, The University of Aberystwyth Print Collection and various private collections.
The fully illustrated Artist’s book features reproductions of the entire suite of 30 etchings, alongside an introduction by the artist and essays by Laura Gascoigne and Julian Page.