Lecture Review: Mark Pinto

Artist Lecture: Mark Pinto, Social Artist

            Mark Pinto delivered a lecture here at the University of Nevada, Reno in which I attended. Mark is a social artist who focuses his work on the post-war lives of veterans. As a veteran of the United States Marines, Mark can fully relate to and understand how life after war is and what its like. His pieces reflect the many costs of war, specifically the cost it has on those who actively participate in being our nation’s warriors. Personally, it amazes me how Mark creates this work and has to relive the horrific things that happen in war every time he creates a new project. However, this is what drives him and fuels him to continue creating this art.

            Mark’s photography series titled Joes Come Home consists of multiple photographs of G.I. Joe dolls posed in various situations that veterans must face every day after they come home from war. For example, one of the photographs is titled Homeless Joe and features one of the dolls dressed in his uniform and sitting against a fence. The veteran doll is wrapped up in a trash bag blanket, which really makes one feel the hopeless feeling that these veterans face on a daily basis after coming home. The photographs show all different types of hardships that veterans face, like alcoholism, traumatic injuries, post traumatic stress disorder, suicide, unemployment, becoming a convict, and more.

            Two other pieces that go hand-in-hand are titled 22 Joes and Janes Every Day and 22 Joes Every Day. These pieces visualize how every single day, there are approximately 22 veterans that commit suicide. The first piece mentioned is a mural in San Francisco on a brick wall. The painting displays 22 white stick figures that have committed suicide by hanging with a parachute rope. The mural also serves as a monument, dedicated to those who have taken their lives. The second piece mentioned has the same premise; however, it is an interactive piece. The piece requires individuals to help hang 22 plastic dolls around the neck using toy parachute cords. This piece must really have an emotional effect on those who participate, as you are physically hanging something that represents our veterans.

            Mark Pinto’s work definitely serves as a means to create change. By highlighting the situations that veterans go through when they come home from war, Mark sheds light on the fact that our country needs to help improve the lives of those who go off to war in order to protect the United States.