WIL SIMPSON

Barbie Takes The Stand, Oil on mahogany panel, 61 cm x 121 cm

Whiskey Painting (WISS-KEY), Oil on birch panel, 61 cm x 77 cm

Victor Painting (VIK-TAH), Oil on birch panel, 61 cm x 77 cm

Wil Simpson currently has a collection of oil paintings in the rear section of the gallery which will be hung for the duration of Susan Valyi's sculpture show (until July 31).  The paintings are from Simpson's Green Army Series, which use army men images in conjunction with iconic pictures from the war-era and other historic periods.
     Simpson's work has been shown in Los Angeles in multiple galleries as well as in previous shows here at Pentimento.  As well as the Green Army Series, Simpson is planning work based on model and burlesque-artist Dita Von Teese.

Artist Statement:

( No toy depicted in this work was harmed )

     "Soldiers do not put themselves in harms way for pseudo intellectual ideas or ideals. They put themselves in harms way to defend and to preserve the things that they love and most desire.”

     The equally Iconic and Forgettable Green Army Toy Soldier. Popularized, Vilified and Commercialized. With it’s subtle and perpetual reference to society’s own preconceived notions regarding war and freedom. It is a kind of mirror which reflects the best and the worst in all of us. It represents heroism, honor, service, loss, sacrifice, horror, myth, justice, legend, comedy, chaos, conspiracy, drama, freedom and theatre. The stuff of our Society, the stuff of our Culture and the stuff of life and death. As a global society we both revel in and revile war. Often in the name of freedom.

     The Green Army paintings are titled solely utilizing Military Lingo. For Example, The Phonetic Alphabet, Numbers and Codes or a combination of two or all three. Thereby removing any predetermined conclusions and encouraging the viewer to draw their own conclusions on each

piece. As the Military refers to War as “In Theatre” or “The Theatre of War”. My attempt is to create and to convey a vivid sense of “Theatre”, through the eyes of a common toy. Because in the end, it is only a toy, isn’t it?