Anthony Freda Illustration

K is for Killer

July 20, 2012 § Leave a Comment

This illustration is part of an alphabet book I’m working by Kevin Stein titled “M is for Monster”

I thought I’d use the opportunity to comment on issues that are beyond the stuff of children’s nightmares. The nightmares that keep me up at night are squarely based in current reality. The mass shooting that occurred last night is just one manifestation of a profoundly sick society.

Our children play first person shooter games from an early age based on technology originally designed by the military to de-sensitize soldiers to killing people. Most people have a natural aversion to slaughter, so hundreds of hours at the trigger shooting simulated human targets helps make murder a fun and mundane activity.

Our leaders get together every “Terror Tuesday”and pick a ‘baseball card’ from their kill list to be the lucky recipient of a Hellfire Missile launched from a Predator Drone. The names are picked by the same intelligence agencies who told us WMD’s in Iraq were a “Slam Dunk”. The targets are, of course. denied any charges, trial or defense. Why deal with all that pesky jurisprudence when you can proceed directly to execution? The fact that these executions are illegal and that the people carrying out the orders could be prosecuted for murder doesn’t seem to present a problem to our fearless leaders who are guided by only the highest ‘humanitarian’ ideals. If a couple of dozen children or people simply attending a wedding happen to get blown up in the process, well that’s just ‘collateral damage’

Should we really be shocked when one of the kids trained to kill on hyper-violent computer games, bombarded by a blood-drenched culture posing as ‘entertainment’ and taught that a foreign policy based on war crimes is ‘humanitarian’ commits acts of obscene violence?

Peace, man.

February 2, 2012 § Leave a Comment

Peace Prize by Anthony Freda

This painting was originally titled “No-Bull Peace Prize” It was published in the Trends Research Journal, and has been posted on anti-war blogs and alternative media news sites including Activist Post.

It was selected to be part of both the Society of Illustrators and Communication Arts annual illustration competitions.

The Man

January 11, 2012 § Leave a Comment

The Man by Anthony Freda 2012

Martin Luther King’s Ghandi inspired ideas of non-violent resistance to tyranny, war and oppression are a constant source of inspiration to me.

It’s incredible for me to think that around the time I was born, the chances of a black man being elected president were zero.

We obviously have come a long way in our attitudes towards race and equality, but have a long way to go before we approach Dr. King’s dreams of peace and personal liberty for all.

He said “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on their military than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

Last year we spent more money on our military budget than China, Russia and the next 12 nations Combined. We are currently waging war, either overtly or covertly, in 8 countries.

Enter the Dragon

January 5, 2012 § Leave a Comment

I spent a lot of time creating artwork for alternative media news websites and blogs last year, and am looking forward to continuing the labor of love as we enter the year of the dragon. I was largely content to keep quiet and let my art speak to the issues by accompanying the words of others. I think it’s a good idea to let real writers speak truth to power, but I may contribute to the discussion from time to time. I will post some of my favorites from 2011 here. Like Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

This image was made using acrylic paint and colored pencil on a vintage blackboard. It appeared on Barry Ritholz’ blog The Big Picture and Gerald Celente’s Trends Journal. It was also chosen to be part of the Society of Illustrators Annual Editorial Competition.

Too Big To Fail, Anthony Freda

Everybody Knows

November 1, 2010 § Leave a Comment

Ben by Anthony Freda

“Everybody Knows the fight was fixed, the poor stay poor the rich get rich” goes a line in a Leonard Cohen song.

I’m just an artist trying to make sense of the world, using my art as a vehicle to channel the passion I feel about the injustice I see everywhere.

I have been accused of creating art that is somehow Un-American. That assessment is not accurate and completely misses the point of my work. I feel privileged to have been born in this country and I cherish the notion of personal freedom that America was founded on. I am pointing a finger at those who enact policies that destroy our freedoms and start wars that needlessly kill Americans and innocents abroad. Their agenda does not represent my idea of what this country stands for. Our ‘officials’ are not America, We are.

Shepard Fairey, the brilliant artist who created the iconic ‘Hope’ image has recently expressed his disappointment with BHO. It seems to me that his image was like a glass of champagne on a first date. It’s filled with the dreamy sense of possibility and promise that someone you don’t really know yet can offer. I want my work to go down like a hot cup of black coffee the morning after. Something like “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. A graphic depiction of the sins our ‘fearless leaders’ have committed in our name.

Every unjust war we start puts a black mark on our collective soul. The lies that brought us into the Vietnam conflict made us cynical. The lies that brought us into Iraq have destroyed trust in Government for many of us. Frank Rich points out that instead of bringing American ideas of freedom to Iraq, this war is bringing the political chaos of Iraq to America.I think on some level, Everybody Knows that we have lost our way, and America’s future is bleak unless we reverse the damage that has been done to us by the interests that promote and finance the war machine.

Despite promises to the contrary, The Bush Doctrine of endless, preemptive war continues to be the cornerstone of our foreign policy, and The Patriot Act remains intact as a testament to tyranny. What will the next war bring?