Guns in the hands of artists: sleeping on reason

The Guns in the Hands of Artists exhibition was conceived of by artist Brian Borrello in the mid 1990’s to create a conversation about guns in our society by bringing the discussion into the realm of art; without the often partisan and polarized politics that surround the issue. Art is the perfect medium with which to spark conversations about these difficult and divisive topics.

Using art as the language for dialogue… Decommissioned guns taken off the streets were disseminated to artists to use as the raw materials in their art.  Painters, glass artists, sculptors, photographers, poets, and other artists used the decommissioned firearms to make works of art.  Each artist used the guns in their medium to express a thought, make a statement, open a discussion and stimulate thinking about guns in our culture.

Over the past 18 years, gun violence has continued to be a major issue that affects the very fabric of American culture.  Guns permeate the American landscape. From Sandy Hook to Minneapolis, deadly violence is a daily occurrence in our society. From the kid on the street corner killed by a stray bullet to the mass murders at Columbine, guns and the people that use them are wreaking havoc on America.  With the recent mass shootings of the past years, artist/ gallery owner Jonathan Ferrara, the producer of the original Guns in The Hands of Artists project, has been compelled to revisit the exhibition and reopen the dialogue that was started many years ago.

“Sleeping on Reason” is constructed from a small revolver and the head of a black glazed ceramic child. The gun is coated with velvet fibers and rests on a small red velvet pillow. The black ceramic head replaces the revolver’s bullet chamber. The piece is meant to be somewhat perversely symbolic; collapsing the gun and the many young victims of gun violence. The title refers to Francisco de Goya’s “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters;” a quintessentially dark vision of humanity that, whether intended or not, takes the Enlightenment period to task as its awakening of sensitivity to the arts, math and science coincides with some of the most brutal acts of humanity. I am reminded that we live in a society of many contradictions. The notion that we have achieved an egalitarian society tempered by laws becomes brittle when one contemplates that in the United States it is easier to buy a gun than it is to vote. Perhaps this is what Goya meant by the caption accompanying the print: “Imagination abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters; united with her, she is the mother of the arts and source of their wonders.” - William Villalongo