Alex Lilly, Riot Cop, “Gaza Warscape,”
Mixed media( oil paint, concrete dust, house paint on canvas), 20′ X 7′
Alex Lilly, Gaza Warscape mural (2024)
Perches on my bird feeder
look like balconies of a building
shattered by rockets.
The feeder sways lightly
as a house finch flies off,
head and shoulders ablaze with red.
Birds feed from the blown-out windows
of apartments, having first
checked for predators.
The building sways slightly,
but stands,
gaping at the street.
______________
Bruce Parker
Review by Philip Kirsch
Having my own “Gaza”-related poem in the issue, I was drawn to this one. In this visually striking work an innocent backyard bird-feeder becomes the blitzed cityscape of decimated Gaza, the levels “like balconies of a building shattered by rockets,” the feeder itself swaying like the bombed buildings where “Birds feed from the blown-out windows” in the real Gaza. So does distant tragedy invade our world at home, spreading like a virus across continents, proving our existence as one humanity.
Review by Massimo Fantuzzi
Again, Gaza’s crimes of systematic destruction and vicious murder resurface in the most domestically tranquil of scenes. Again, Gaza’s open wounds enter our home, become our home. The sway of the building is the sway of our conscience; the fragility of those lives, ablaze with red, too afraid to make a sound for fear of predators.
Editor’s Note: For those curious or interested to see more of Alex Lilly’s work, he was featured in Issue #13 (here).