The beauty of devastation ---- Gerry Judah

I do not think the devastation itself is beautiful (maybe only in art)... I just think the art of devastation created by Gerry Judah is beautiful, the beauty in the ruins has a strong impact, making people think or even mourn.

"The Crusader" The sculpture comprises a 7 meter three-dimensional crucifix covered with a lattice of war-torn buildings lacquered in snow white.

Why did the artist use sole white color? When people think about war, destruction or disaster, they would think about fear, grief, insecurity, and Darkness. So why did not the artist use the color black? Wouldn't that be more convincing? I pictured an image with this piece in black in my head and immediately denied my questions. I think the artist simply wants people to see the devastation in a rational way without dwelling themselves too much in the sorrow brought from the war. And white is probably the best color to represent the artist's idea in this piece. Snow white makes people calm, with the feelings of sympathy, regret, or even anger brought from the war, the whole combination of feelings just make people think, think deeply about the causes, usually started by human beings, ourselves.

Another element the artist used that strikes me is the needle like sticks poking out from the ruin. They are like hundreds of spears dashing toward you, piercing through your thoughts and soul. Without this element, the piece would lose a lot of power.

As a Christian, it is ironic to see a war ruin built on the cross. It seems to me that the artist just used an abstract way to proclaim the war between the US and Iraq since the US is considered as a Christian country, and the size of the crucifix shows the power the US has over the world. "In the name of Jesus Christ, we come to destroy your land, and we shall be glorified with your devastation", an ironic message I got from the artist.

We should be ashamed of ourselves for the things we have done to our world. We should think about it, meditate, and build more happiness toward others; other nations.

The artist also has paintings with similar theme done before the sculpture has created. I want to show you some pictures of the details to build more connection with the art.

He is also good at gigantic installation art, here are some pictures of his works made for some big car companies.