American Constructs of Violence: Art by Conor Fagan

By Conor Fagan

Constructs of American Violence consists of nine small paintings, which are details of a Civil War monument and a Civil War era cannon that reside outside the city courthouse in Traverse City, Michigan. A common sight in many towns large and small in the United States, these paintings are an investigation of the scarred and weathered surfaces (physical and cerebral) of these very American constructs to violence.

An Average Day utilizes a common toy (a collection of army men) to visually track the accumulation of the daily death toll to gun violence in the United States. Each day, I place one hundred more Army men in concentric circles around the preceding accumulation of days for the duration of the exhibition. 

Both pieces are in attempt to subvert the normal ways we ingest our violent past, and currently violent cultural moments.



About the author:

Conor Fagan obtained his graduate degree in Fine Arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He recently completed a year as an Artist-in-Residence in Roswell, NM, at the Roswell Artist in Residency Program (RAIR), from 2017 to 2018, and was the Richerdson-Spica Artist-in-Residence at Interlochen Arts Academy for Fall of 2018. His recent shows include Your New York at Gitler &, New York, NY, This Is Not That at the Roswell Museum of Art in Roswell, NM and The Spring/Break Art Show in New York, NY. During the academic year, he teaches drawing, painting, printmaking, and photography at Interlochen Arts Academy. He lives in Traverse City, MI.