Contemporary Art Society : 'Age of Terror: Art since 9/11' at Imperial War Museum London

The Imperial War Museum has put on its largest contemporary art show to date, highlighting the crucial role artists play in representing a so-called ‘post 9/11’ world. Age of Terror: Art since 9/11 features 50 works, including film, sculpture, painting, installation, photography and prints.

British artist David Cotterrell was given special access to photograph the British Army medical facilities at Camp Bastion in Helmand province. His triptych Gateway II (2009), also gifted to the IWM by the Contemporary Art Society earlier this year, presents a moment when wounded soldiers were transferred during night-time onto the plane that took them home to the UK. The huge scale of the planes contrasts with the vulnerability of their human cargo, who were sedated and probably unaware of their journey. The work reflects a period of time when casualty rates for British troops were escalating.

Age of Terror: Art since 9/11 is part of the IWM’s Conflict Now strand that was launched this year to coincide with the museum’s Centenary. It is a timely but chilling reminder of how the political, social and cultural aftershocks of 9/11 continue to reverberate around the world more than 16 years later, the ‘War on Terror’ seemingly infiltrating every area of our lives.

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