James A. Allen
Paintings and Drawings
Post-9/11 Postcards
These relatively small (15 x 22 inch) acrylic on board works mimic, on an outsized scale, the ubiquitous tourist postcard that has played such a large role in constructing our mental landscape of the North American homeland. In an effort to demonstrate the psychological impact of the events of 9/11 on our sense of land and nation, I impose the presence of the twin towers in the hour of their destruction upon the comfortably picturesque subjects of our favorite "Kodak moments". I have looked to both vintage and contemporary postcards for inspiration, although the final images are conflations of multiple impressions. The attractions themselves are not slighted. I try to retain the grandeur or "wow" quality that has won them our worshipful admiration. But with varying degrees of emphasis the flaming towers make their appearance, rending, so to speak, the comforting blanket of isolation we have for so long enjoyed in the grandeur and vastness of our land.