Gerald is an artist working in painting, assemblage and installation art. His most recent work delves into his time deployed in Iraq by the United States Army. Much of his work seeks to complicate society’s oversimplified understanding of soldiers and the occupied people of Iraq. Through his paintings he investigates and questions the way in which western art and media depict and have depicted people and places in the middle east. He also explores the United States’ chaotic diplomatic mismanagement of Iraq during the war.
In this interview, we discuss Gerald’s experience enlisting in the United States Army, his deployment to Iraq, a new installation inspired by an unbelievable true story, political rhetoric, Orientalism, and finally his preference for a specific color.
Be sure to see Gerald’s exhibition at New Release Gallery in New York’s Chinatown. It's entitled “Democratic Paradox," and it's on view until February 16th
Gerald Sheffield, Al Faw Palace II, (Flashe on panel) 12x16 inches.
Gerald Sheffield, building Dreamland, or Camp Baharia, Fallujah, Iraq, 10" x 8", Acrylic on panel, 2018
Gerald Sheffield, cnn, 2017, (flashe on canvas) 10x8 inches
Gerald Sheffield, genesis II incompetence, 2016, (charcoal, acrylic on canvas), 96 x 84 inches.
Gerald Sheffield, army colors (Charcoal, Acrylic, and Screen Print on linen) 95x55 inches
Gerald Sheffield, you make yourself so big you become a coin, 2016, (Acrylic and Flashe on paper) 22 inches diameter