I want to call attention to Ai Weiwei’s amazing lithograph print. It was created as a part of his 2017–2018 New York City public art project, Good Fences Make Good Neighbors. It adapts classical Greek vase-painting styles to illustrate the contemporary global refugee crisis and themes of displacement.
It really sums up the refugee crisis succinctly and beautifully.
On a leisurely Sunday afternoon this past weekend I was browsing The Rosenfield Collection of ceramics and came across this wonderful piece by Christina Assad. I wanted to share it with all of you. A grenade-shaped ceramic vessel, very intruiging Christa Assad. The work immediately demanded a closer look, and I knew it was something worth sharing.
Over in Vancouver, Canada, in an exhibition put on by Access Gallery, you can currently find one of my Predator Drone Rugs on display. The exhibition, titled Small Gods, considers the drone from four perspectives—as violent machines, mythic beings (the “eye of god”), ancestral technologies (in meditation and drone music), and residents of our speculative futures. The exhibition is slated to run from mid October to December 2025 and features a lot of exciting work along with potent questions and explorations of the drone as both weapon and art.
Below are some photos:
The destruction of Nigel Lendon’s best rugs in a flood in NSW Australia, has given a shock to Warrug. To see some of the very best rugs reduced to a bloody mess, has realigned my priorities. Rather than hold on to the rugs, it is better to get them into the world. Rather than keeping an excellent group of beautiful rugs in a few centralized locations, my goal is distribute them widely. Towards this goal, gifts to museums and institutions are underway. If you want a rug, now is the time. If you want a bunch of rugs, now really is the time. Contact me with questions and proposals.
The Drone and UXO rugs were made in Afghanistan, so getting more is currently impossible. The vintage War Rugs though are all marked down around 40%. Never in Warrug.com’s 25 years has there been a sale like this.
Subtle weapons rugs from the Herat Area discounted 40%.
Pictorial war rugs with landscapes and figures, discounted 40%.
Red rugs, like the first one that introduced me to this wonderful art, also heavily discounted.
This grim image reminds me of Guston’s piles of rocks. The hard drawing of the gun contrasts with the soft mortality of the humans. 3,800 Euro with 15 hours until auction closes.
Otto Dix 1891-1969 Die Barrikade (from Tod und Auferstehung) signed in pencil, dated and inscribed etching on wove paper plate: 274 by 345 mm. 10¾ by 13⅝ in. sheet: 432 by 500 mm. 17 by 19¾ in. Executed in 1922; this impression is a trial proof aside from the edition of 50, published by Otto Dix.
Quartz wrote about my history with collecting Afghanistan war rugs and the rise in popularity of drone images. Check it out here. It includes the Red, White, and Blue Drone Rug, the Predator Drone Rug, Red Rug 13, Abstract WTC 9/11 Afghan War Rug #2, Bomber Helicopter Style War Rug, the Beautiful Afghan Province Map Rug, and the WTC rug all of which can be explored in detail on Warrug.com.
NPR and The World also did a couple write ups on the subject. It’s nice to see War Rugs getting some interest in the public sphere.
Here is a map rug reminiscent of the early Iraq maps especially this great beauty of a silk iraq rug (more info about province rugs like these Iraq rugs or these Iraq rugs from 2003 or these map rugs with and without provinces), but this rug is apparently Iranian. It shows Iran with its provinces outlined and colored like the Iraq rugs (and Afghan map rugs). The oil wells in Iraq are a nice touch. If only Nigel Lendon were here to discuss this.
A friend is selling this rug so contact Warrug for the details.
Creating juxtaposition by using tanks, grenades and helicopters next to floral designs makes this War Rug from the 1980’s a very unique, special item. The colors used, light pink and beige, make the rug feel calm yet it carries a message that is deep and creates a long-lasting image and detail that does not tire to look at.
The figures and motifs are pixelated and stylized. The different rows of weapons are separated by jagged lines. The border is made up of alternating tanks, rifles, and helicopters. The flowery guard stripe on the left side of the rug appears to be stretched compared to the stripe on the right. This rug can be found on warrug.com.
A blue, orange, red and green incentive motif featuring Russian soldiers, helicopters, jets and tanks rug which was completed in the 1980’s and is incredible unique is available on warrug.com.
The pattern creates a war scene with all of the tools and people needed to defend a base. Bright saturated colors on a dark rich blue field, the guard stripes are made of interlocking geometric brown, green, and red shapes separated from the main borders by white ‘sawtooth’ patterns. The kilim has an interesting blue pattern.
It is 48 x 96 inches (123 X245 cm), uses wool and was made in Afghanistan.
This rug was created in the 1980’s in Afghanistan. Although it has been some time since it was created it is in perfect shape and features traditional end finishes, the drawing, and the traditional design suggest this is of the earliest war rugs. 
The intricate design is special, it features vague floral medallions and transcendent color combinations create a pattern that is beautiful to digest and never ends out of details to examine closely.
There is a closer look at some of the intense detail in this rug.