After more than five amazing years in Glebe it is with mixed emotions that we announce Salerno Gallery will be moving to a new space. Glebe has been absolutely wonderful […]
WARRIOR by Caroline McGregor
10th – 23rd February, 2014
Opening Night:
Saturday 15th of February, 4.00 – 6.00pm
In 2001, Australia participated in the invasion of Afghanistan in response to the September 11th attacks in the United States. What began as a mission to hunt down Al Qaeda became instead a protracted fight against Taliban insurgents. In Australia’s longest war to date, more than $7 billion has been spent, more than 25,000 Australians have served with 40 of our best killed in action and more than 200 seriously wounded – not to mention the countless more suffering from psychological injuries.
The limited media coverage of Australia’s involvement in this conflict resulted in a disconnection between the public and the armed forces. This body of work by Sydney artist Caroline McGregor began… “as a cry for the public recognition of the effort our young men and women who were risking their lives on the other side of the world. Initially titled “Just Give a F@*k” (a line that came from Matt Gallagher’s book KABOOM – Embracing The Suck in a Savage Little War which read “I don’t care if you support the war or not, just give a fuck!”), WARRIOR seemed to more honourably pay tribute to these young men and the sacrifices they have made on our behalf. As a nation we tend to look the other way and not share responsibility for the situations they found themselves in, but as a wise man once aptly put it “We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”