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Behind the Smoke

War Art — Behind the Smoke

Visual Commentary — Monsters in the air

War art illustration showing smoke from industrial chimneys forming a powerful human figure — visual commentary on war, industry and hidden power
Behind the Smoke — Art by Erik Ziegler. War, industry and hidden power shaping the world behind the noise.

Political Art Poster is part of the Visual Commentary series and explores how power and conflict are often hidden behind what we see as smoke. What looks abstract or distant often has structure, intention and a human presence behind it.

The other day, watching a refinery burning in the middle of the war against Iran, the smoke started to take shape.
It looked like a leg, something massive, something powerful. This image took me to the great comic book villains, the ones citizens look up to from below in the panels, tiny, facing giant monsters made of mud, huge reptiles or sinister machines from another world. Today, villains are no longer fiction; they are massive and openly display their power right in front of our eyes.
Those who draw, those who create comics, have a goldmine in front of them to create new villains. All you have to do is copy them from the news and show the next generations what real evil looks like. The monsters are coming… Donald, Benjamín and all the others…

No war.

More Works by Erik Ziegler

Conceptual digital culture poster showing AI ping pong paddles bouncing human-faced balls in an endless loop

Prompt Pong

Humans, prompts and machines trapped in the same endless rally.
Political art poster showing a family wearing missile-shaped helmets — visual commentary on war, propaganda and silent consent

Silent Consent

A political art poster about silence, propaganda and the violence we slowly normalize.
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