October 25, 2016 through December 8, 2016
College of the Canyons Art Gallery
26455 Rockwell Canyon Road
Santa Clarita, CA 91355
John Eden enlisted in the Air Force out of high school and was assigned the lonely duty of guarding B-52 bombers loaded with atomic bombs. This experience left a life-long imprint that is reflected in his “Roundel Series,” wall relief paintings of twenty and twenty-first century military aircraft insignias. As John says, “As I walked the line around those planes, I was struck by the dichotomy of their stealthy beauty. How they could be seen as instruments of great good and have the potential of great evil at the same time.
“John Eden is an accomplished artist that has exhibited extensively in California, New York & Europe. In addition John spent his childhood in the Santa Clarita Valley and attended Hart High School. His childhood experiences and later military service have been formative influences for his work. The series “Roundels” resonate with these influences as well as the historic use of strong graphic symbols in warfare. These images can be viewed for their great craftsmanship, color and beauty and at the same time the symbolic attachment to war is chilling.
