Charles Malinsky

"Of all the world's warriors, artists are still the most noble and free." ~ anonymous South African poet

When I lived in Spain, the horrors of the Franco years were just beginning to be talked about. For years after the dictator's death, these events had been a taboo subject. One of the aspects of his reign that emerged was the role that artists played in the failed revolution. Every artist that I met of the previous generation had spent time in prison; some had been tortured. Artists were particularly feared by the fascists; they had the power, and the voice, to speak compellingly against the brutal regime.

In a more haphazard, intuitive way, I have been trying to be that kind of artist - to lend my talent and my voice to the causes of reason and civility. The quality in art that I most admire is the kind of harmony and clarity that touches deep in the soul. This is what I am compelled to deliver through my images. My experiences in Spain were not responsible for setting me on this course, but they did provide a tangible, historic context around what I had always felt was my duty as an artist -- to speak of the things we are not allowed to utter and provide lightening rods for collective feelings of anger, despair, and dis...