SAVE HOLDEN CAULFIELD

In response to efforts throughout the country to ban books, I began creating an art series in protest of these initiatives.  It was out of necessity, as I believe that access to literature of all types is an important freedom for people of all ages to possess. 

 

My initial focus was the book The Catcher in the Rye.  For me, reading this book as a teenager was an important experience and pivotal to my own journey into adulthood.  The main character Holden Caulfield was flawed, misguided, wise, eccentric, and real.  He was like me in many ways.  Author J.D. Salinger gave his readers a gift.  He let us know that the feelings we had about society, family, and adulthood were shared.  Many of us were like the character Holden. It was a moving account of the human experience.  It’s a literary masterpiece that to me is a “right of passage” for young people, particularly men, to read.

 

It’s my understanding that The Catcher in the Rye is listed as one of the most controversial books, with efforts to ban it taking place throughout the United States.  I don’t find that acceptable.  Hence, I crafted the work “Save Holden Caulfield” in response.

 

The work is an assemblage of pages from a destroyed book that I received, affixed with wheat paste to wood board. Spray paint, oil stick have been added.  It measures 24”x 24.”