1969: Vietnam, Civil Rights & Woodstock, Janet Richardson, 2017, acrylic, 5.6 x 10 ft. / 66 x 120 in.

Janet Richardson’s Paintings Expose Modern War and Faith

April 14, 2025 Gavin Coates

Featured image: 1969: Vietnam, Civil Rights & Woodstock, Janet Richardson, 2017, acrylic, 5.6 x 10 ft. / 66 x 120 in.

In her thought-provoking triptych, artist Janet Richardson dissects the recurring patterns of violence, power, and cultural hypocrisy that define both ancient history and modern society.

Janet Richardson uses bold acrylics to expose power, hypocrisy, and history’s brutal repetitions through surreal, satirical large-scale works.

Using expressive acrylic brushwork across three massive 5.6 x 10 ft canvases, Richardson forces viewers to confront the brutal continuity of war, the contradictions of organized faith, and the masked theater of American life. Her bold, chaotic figures—many drawn from recognizable pop culture, political archetypes, and religious iconography, transform the familiar into sharp critiques of complicity and illusion.

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World of War, Janet Richardson, 2017, acrylic, 5.6 x 10 ft. / 66 x 120 in.

In World of War, Richardson presents an unsettling parade of warriors from various eras and ideologies—knights, Nazis, Darth Vader, Napoleon, the Ku Klux Klan, and even Spider-Man, marching beneath a towering Trojan Horse. The scene is absurd yet chilling, illustrating the timelessness of warfare and propaganda. Despite costume changes across millennia, the ultimate act, destruction, remains unchanged. The Trojan Horse, central in the composition, underscores the deceptive nature of war, and how societies continue to fall for myths cloaked in noble cause. Richardson’s crowded composition mirrors the suffocation of humanity under the weight of its violent heritage.

Pray, Janet Richardson, 2017, acrylic, 5.6 x 10 ft. / 66 x 120 in.

Pray gathers global religious and cultural figures beneath a blinding white cross in a sea of confusion. From Uncle Sam and the Pope to indigenous characters and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Richardson blurs the sacred and the absurd. The painting critiques how spiritual identity is often co-opted by nationalism, dogma, and spectacle. With rosary beads raining like bullets and steamboats drifting across the backdrop, the work presents religion not as salvation, but as another battlefield where political agendas masquerade as faith. The work echoes a central irony: the very forces meant to unite us often divide us the most violently.

The American Parade, Janet Richardson, 2017, acrylic, 5.6 x 10 ft. / 66 x 120 in.

In The American Parade, a glamorous yet oblivious majorette leads a grotesque procession of corporate mascots, military bands, extremist groups, and armed children. The pageantry of parades—typically symbolic of unity and joy—is hijacked here to represent a performative culture where societal rot is hidden in plain sight. McDonald’s clown leads the march alongside extremist groups, and puppet-like politicians follow suit. This is Richardson at her most satirical, illustrating how deep social divisions are dressed in the costume of community, and how America’s rituals often mask its realities.

Richardson’s triptych reminds us that while the aesthetics of power, belief, and culture evolve, the underlying mechanisms remain frighteningly consistent. War continues under new flags. Faith is weaponized. Society celebrates while it devours. Across World of War, Pray, and The American Parade, Richardson crafts a visual thesis: humanity endlessly reenacts the same tragedies with updated roles and better costumes. Her large-scale works reject subtlety to deliver a powerful message, truth is buried beneath layers of performance.

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