Throughout history artist have expressed themselves regarding the social realities of the world such as war. Compare and contrast Eugene Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People to Pablo Picasso's Guernica. How do these two artist differ in their visualization of war? How do you think today's artists would respond to the war in Iraq or Afghanistan? Are there examples you might site? How do they differ from Picasso and Delacroix?
Artists will always be responding to the effects of war, poverty, injustice and suffering in their work. Of course this is not the only role of the artist, as we see just as much beauty and experimentation as well.
Although we may not yet be seeing the work from artists in Iraq or Afghanistan yet in our museums, it does not mean that the art is not being created. As long as the topics are there, artists will be creating work to reflect the times, the emotions, and have symbols that represent the story of struggle