“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their in ward significance.”–
Aristotle
Before an airplane is built, it is first a drawing of an airplane, which is why it’s fitting that much of the history of aviation has been told largely through the eyes of artists. It’s also one of the reasons why documentarian Jodi Goren-Rode is producing and directing a documentary about the art–and artists–of aviation.
Throughout history, war time artists have been deployed to capture conflicts and given permission to share through their own eyes, the stories of some of the most critical moments in recorded history,” said Goren-Rode, the veteran filmmaker behind TheArtofAviation.“ They created a window into the lives of soldiers fighting while stationed all over the world. Our goal is to share some of these artists’ stories and to shed light on this field before these first-hand accounts are lost forever.”
Her life-long fascination with aviation and art is at least partially fueled by the fact her cousin is Gil Cohen, one of the modern masters of the art form. Cohen is a highly successful and influential aviation artist whose work is displayed in museums and private collections around the world. While researching these artists, Jodi realized that the stories portrayed in their artwork connect to world conflicts and historical events. She believes a documentary series featuring these artists is extremely important because their first-hand accounts of wartime conflicts would be lost forever if not documented. Now she is determined to showcase these remarkable artists and their work sharing their stories about WWII and other important periods during American history.
And she’s starting with her cousin Gil, who was drafted into the Army and worked as an artist in military intelligence during the Cold War. After his military service he went on to pursue a successful career as an illustrator and teacher. But it was his love of history,s pecifically World WarII and his fascination with the Eighth Air Force that changed the trajectory of his life forever. With a career spanning more than six decades, his skill has
transcended recreating planes on canvas. Instead, his art depicts deeply emotional moments in history that move beyond the machines and back toward the men and women who flew them.
“The goal for the series is to share stories aviation artists to connect people more intrinsically to the history their paintings recorded,“Goren-Rode added.“Understanding the art–and how the artists experienced creating that art–will provide us all a better understanding of our own history, so we may better anticipate the futures borne from it.”
For more about The Art of Aviation, click here.