Soldier: Claxton - 120 Days in Afghanistan
Artist
Suzanne Opton
(b. 1954)
CultureAmerican
Date2004
MediumChromogenic print
Dimensions41 x 52 in. (104.1 x 132.1 cm)
Overall, Frame: 52 3/4 × 53 1/8 × 2 1/16 in. (134 × 134.9 × 5.2 cm)
Overall, Frame: 52 3/4 × 53 1/8 × 2 1/16 in. (134 × 134.9 × 5.2 cm)
SignedVerso: signed, titled, editioned.
Portfolio#2 in a series of 3
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number2009.2.1
Not on view
DescriptionArchival pigment print depicting a soldier's head resting on a table. Label TextSuzanne Opton American (b. 1954) Soldier: Claxton-120 Days in Afghanistan, 2004 Soldier: Mickelson-Length of Service Unknown, 2004 Chromogenic prints Museum purchases 2009.2.1-.2 "We all experience strategic moments when we feel most alive. Be they transcendent or horrific, these are the memories that form our lives. In making portraits of soldiers, I wanted to look in the face of someone who had seen something unforgettable." Claxton and Mickelson are two of the over ninety American soldiers Suzanne Opton photographed for her Soldier and Citizen portrait series on the aftermath of the War on Terror. Opton began the series in 2004, photographing soldiers stationed at Fort Drum, New York, between tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. She later traveled to Jordan to photograph and interview Iraqi citizens who had fled after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Though powerful in scale and presentation, Opton's Soldier images are not heroic military portraits in dress uniform, but unguarded, even intimate depictions of men and women who had already risked their lives for their country and were soon to do so again. The artist posed the soldiers with their heads resting on a table, inviting viewers to turn their own heads to meet each soldier's gaze. In so doing, the portraits become as personal an experience as reclining next to someone on a bed, allowing us to ponder close-up the faces and thoughts of those who have experienced the "unforgettable." ProvenanceOpton Photography, New York, New York; Chrysler Museum of Art, Museum purchase, 2009Exhibition History"At the Front," Gallery 258, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., August 14, 2009 - January 17, 2010. "Women of the Chrysler: a 400-Year Celebration of the Arts," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., March 24 - July 18, 2010. "Remix Redux: A Fresh Mix For Our Modern And Contemporary Galleries," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, August 15 - December 30, 2012. "Aspects of the Self: Portraits of Our Times," Virginia Tech Center for the Arts, Blacksburg, VA, March 21 - April 27, 2014.Published ReferencesSuzanne Opton, _Suzanne Opton: Soldier / Many Wars_ (Seattle: DECODE, Inc., 2011) unnumbered page.
