{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":1823,"auction_id":4,"set_id":5,"lot_number":"98","artist":"Charlie Co (b. 1960)","title":"Lords of War","starting_price":280000,"signed_dated":"signed and dated 2006 (lower right)","medium":"oil on canvas","size":"72\" x 48\" (183 cm x 122 cm)","property":null,"coa":null,"provenance":null,"exhibited":"Osage Gallery, Possession, Hong Kong, June 1 - July 15, 2007","literature":null,"write_up":"Charlie Co’s Lords of War is a dark image of \ndestruction and distress amid the unforgiving \nwrath brought by war and violence, not just any \nkind of violence, but imperialist violence. Co expounds \non this work: “A man in an armored suit stands on a \nlandscape of devastation. His left foot steps on a skull \nas if he has triumphantly won a war, killing his enemies. \nThe crow, an iconic symbol that has been a recurring \nimage [in my paintings] since the 1990s, symbolizes \ndeath or harbingers of death. He holds a burning sword \nmeaning there is always a constant threat. Falling \nhuman figures are power seekers falling from their \nambitions and greed.” <br /><br />\nWars and the strengthening of the military are part and \nparcel of imperialist nations’ survival. The two world \nwars resulted from these nations’ struggle and scramble \nto assert dominion over the world. In particular, the \nUnited States, the most powerful imperialist, wage wars, \ninvade countries, and intervene in civil conflicts not just \nto take control of the local economy but to maintain \nhigh profits for its military-industrial complex. In 2022, \nthe US military-industrial complex amassed a profit \nfrom arms exports of $205.6 billion, a combined value \nfrom private corporations tied to the lucrative industry \nand sales arranged by the US government. They further \nachieved this as they took advantage of the Russia-Ukraine War, an inter-imperialist war between the \nUS-led NATO forces and Russia. In 2021, according to \ndata provided by the veritable think-tank Stockholm \nInternational Peace Research Institute (SPRI), the US \naccounted for 51% of the total arms sales, a sheer 33% \nfrom the runner-up, China. <br /><br />\nIn the Philippines, the US has installed pro-American \nregimes since the post-war era to ensure the protection \nof its vested interests in our economy. It is up to the \nFilipino people to arouse, organize, and mobilize the \ngreater number of the oppressed and relentlessly \nconfront the hegemony of imperialism and its local \nagents. The same goes for peoples of numerous \noppressed nations. (Adrian Maranan)","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":null,"alias":null,"hp":650000,"bp":0.2016,"isWithdrawn":0,"accounting_hp":650000,"userBid":5926,"isPaid":0,"userId":22,"lot_status":"SOLD","isDone":1,"bid_history_id":null,"reserve_price":null,"hammer_price":781040,"fav":0},"image":[{"id":2034,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/4/5/lot/98.jpg","isFeatured":1}]},"increment":[450000,500000,550000,600000,650000,700000,750000,800000,900000,1000000,1100000,1200000,1300000,1400000,1500000,1600000,1700000,1800000,1900000,2000000,2200000,2400000,2600000,2800000,3000000,3200000,3400000,3600000,3800000,4000000,4200000,4400000,4600000,4800000,5000000,5500000,6000000,6500000,7000000,7500000,8000000,8500000,9000000,9500000,10000000,11000000,12000000,13000000,14000000,15000000,16000000,17000000,18000000,19000000,20000000],"prev":97,"next":99,"count_bid":0,"bid_history":[],"tokenExpired":1}