Bullet art by David Palmer

Bullet art by David Palmer
‘American Legacy’ highlights the significance of arms in America, both historically, militarily and individually. In reverence to Liberty, it acknowledges the necessity of arms to defend it, while questioning the many military actions waged in its name.
Meanwhile, American contemporary artist, 60-year-old California resident David Palmer has created a gallery of portraits of celebrities from unusual medium – bullet shells. Noteworthy, he depicts mostly the famous people who died from gunshot wounds – John Lennon, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. First, after collecting enough bullet casings, the artist puts them together to create a metal canvas. Next, using a small hand torch darkens the ends of the bullet casings, creating incredibly detailed portraits. And the result is stunning – using such a seemingly inappropriate art medium like bullets, he depicts their victims. According to Palmer, he hopes viewers will “see the miracles that can arise from choosing to create rather than destroy.”

Born in Knox Indiana, in 1953, David S. Palmer graduated from Ball State University, fine art department. His friends describe him as a real underground artist. His creations are a testimony to the fact that he is also a talented and seasoned artist that has an extremely cutting edge perspective. The pieces created in this series consist of mixed media, contemporary in appearance and is as much a sculpture as it is a painting. Besides, it is three dimensional. His present work embraces a topic that is as old as the dawning of man.

Bullet art by David Palmer

David Palmer’s statement: “Throughout history art has been used as a weapon of war, so it seemed fitting to take a weapon of war and make it art. The “Fallen Heroes” series, Abraham Lincoln, JFK, John Lennon and Gandhi all have one thing in common, in their effort to unite people, they all paid the ultimate price”.

“Around the world they are still used to either help build dreams or destroy the dreamers. My hope is that you will feel the emotion attached to the medium and then see the possibility that can arise from choosing to create rather than destroy”. David Palmer

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