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 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.

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

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?

Anthony Freda

The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing by Anthony Freda

I was recently interviewed by Art Threat, a site and magazine devoted to politics and art.

It was a phone interview written verbatim, so please excuse any grammatical or other mistakes.

Anthony Freda

Breast Cancer Awareness Art by Anthony Freda

Hint Mint Presents : The Art For Awareness Event

Benefiting The Avon Walk For Breast Cancer.

My original artwork will be included in the auction along with the work of a lot of wonderful artists.

Please support this worthy cause if you have the means.

October 21, 2010 from 7:00 pm to 11:00 (PT)

Hint Mint

2432 East 8th St

Los Angeles, Ca.

Mid Caps by Anthony Freda

I have had the privilege of working with some great art directors over the years, and I will discuss many of them  here in future blog posts. Today I’d like to credit the art directors and editors at Bloomberg magazines.  Frank Tagariello at Personal Finance  and Beatrice Mc Donald at Wealth Manager were among the best in my humble opinion, and I bet any illustrator who worked for them would agree. They gave artists the freedom and confidence to create imagery that rose above the realm of financial illustration and became something more, something personal. They launched a lot of careers and played an important part in pushing editorial illustration to where it is today. Just look at an illustration annual from the period and it’s filled with a disproportionate number of illustrations that were published in Bloomberg magazines. They did not require the art to be a literal, visual description of the often dry subject matter. They understood that a story about interest rates would be more interest- ing with a visually compelling, even mysterious illustration on a beautifully designed page. It draws the reader in and lets them use their own imagination, rather than spoon feeding them and under-estimating their intelligence.

This is one of my favorites of the period.  For the record, I was painting vintage cartoon characters on old books in the mid 90′s. The piece was selected to be part of American Illustration Annual #19. It was a story about Mid Cap stocks, a tip of my hat to you Frank and Bee.

Shooter by Anthony Freda for The New York Times

I have worked for The New York Times over the years and it can be challenging to come up with several concepts and final art in only a few hours.( I often think of a perfect solution the day after the assignment is due.)

I’ve worked for Steven Guarnaccia, Brian Rea, John Hendrix and Sam Weber, all wonderful illustrators as well as art directors. These are two  illustrations created for the Times. They appeared in the letters section of the op-ed page. The first accompanied letters concerning the Virginia Tech shootings , the second was in reference to Hurricane Katrina.

The Shooter was painted in acrylic on canvas, in color originally. Katrina was black gesso on board and photoshop.

Katrina by Anthony Freda for The New York Times

The content was very disturbing, and she correctly believed that the book needed to be filled with cartoons and illustrations that provided some comic relief from the dark subject matter. One of the more troubling passages for me described how our Department of Defense tests the effects of weapons like Tasers and guns on live pigs. In a story originally reported by The New York Times, a young medic explains that as part of his pre-Iraq training he was tasked with trying to keep a pig alive even as it was repeatedly injured. The pig was shot twice in the face with a 9-mm pistol, twice with a 12 gauge shotgun and then set on fire. He managed to keep the animal alive for 15 hours.

This was painted on found, distressed wood in acrylic. I tried to keep the image as light as I could, without dishonoring the memory of that poor little piggie.

Anthony Freda

Don't Tase Me, Bro. by Anthony Freda

On September 17, 2007 U.S. Senator John Kerry visited The University of Florida. He was there, ironically as it turns out, to address a Constitution Day forum. During the Q and A period, 21 year old Andrew Meyer asked  Kerry why he would not support efforts to impeach George W. Bush. He also asked Kerry to comment on reports of irregularities regarding the results of the 2004 Presidential Election. It was when he queried why Clinton was impeached for getting a “B***J**” while Bush went unpunished for possibly stealing a presidential election that his microphone was cut off. Officers attempted to physically remove him from the room, but he insisted that he had a right to stay and hear his questions be answered. Kerry agreed, yet the four officers continued to try and ‘escort’ him from the room. When he tried to hold his ground, he was taken to the floor and held down by the officers. He yelled “Why are you arresting me? Help. help!” They handcuffed one of his hands and clearly have him restrained on the video of the incident.

It was at this point that he uttered the now famous words “Don’t Tase me, bro.” One of the officers, who apparently did not appreciate being called ‘bro’, drive stunned the student with an X-26 Taser. Andrew could now be added to the still growing list of unarmed students as young as 6 who have been Tased while on school grounds. Following the incident, he was charged with “Inciting a Riot” and other ‘crimes’. The police recommended he be charged with the felony of “Resisting Arrest with Violence”.

Amnesty International alleges that 344 people have died as a result of being Tased. These weapons were originally proposed as an alternative to lethal force, but have become a routine way of incapacitating unarmed suspects at traffic stops and nuisance complaints. Police shootings have not declined since the deployment of Tasers. Authorities call the use of these weapons “Pain Compliance.” I call it torture.

I painted this piece on a vintage, wood cutout of a duck that I found in a flea market in Pennsylvania. It was part of my exhibition titled “All That Glitters” at Trifecta Gallery in Las Vegas.

Anthony Freda