The art of war: Tony Blair's controversial 'Iraq selfie' stars in new exhibition at Imperial War Museum

Imperial War Museum North in Manchester has collection of 70 works that forms Catalyst: Contemporary Art and War

Exhibition contains art, photgraphs and even videos concerning conflicts across the world over recent decades




Grinning in a 'selfie' with a blazing Iraqi oilfield behind him, this is how Tony Blair is being portrayed in a new exhibition about modern warfare.

The Imperial War Museum North in Manchester says Catalyst: Contemporary Art and War, a collection of 70 works created since since the First Gulf War, forms the largest and most important show of its kind for years.

At its centre is the kennardphillipps' take on the decision to invade Iraq ten years ago, with a happy Tony Blair cut in front of a shocking battle scene of smoke and flames in Iraq.

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Powerful: Kennardphillipps' take on the decision to invade Iraq ten years ago shows a happy Tony Blair in front of burning oil field

The exhibition also includes Turner Prize winning artist Steve McQueen's For Queen and Country.

It is a series of 'postage stamp' sheets with photographic portraits of those who died in the Iraq War and each one also bears the standard profile of the Queen.

The work was completed in collaboration with 98 families of the deceased soldiers who chose the photographs.

Tribute: Steve McQueen's For Queen and Country is a series of 'postage stamp' sheets with portraits of those who died in the Iraq War

Contrast: Timberlake's Another Country series began with a painted backdrop, combining well-known Romantic landscapes by Turner or Constable with nuclear mushroom clouds

Empty: Langlands and Bell's House of Osama bin Laden, is an interactive vido reflecting the long hunt for the terrorist

Lonely: Paul Seawright's photographs of minefields in Afghanistan show a seemingly empty landscape, which in reality is both lethal and inaccessible

The exhibition showcases installations, photography, film,sculpture, oil paintings, prints and book works; varying from the highly moving to the humorous,

philosophical or outrageous.



It explores how art ifluences perceptions of conflict and shapes the way history is written.



Rasheed Araeen’s White Stallion explores the role of the media by questioning the nature of propaganda during the First Gulf War, while Paul Seawright seeks an alternative way of photographing war through his images of empty, but lethal minefields in Afghanistan.



Artists are often driven by their own experiences, political views or a desire to protest. Taysir Batniji’s series of estate agent details for destroyed homes in Gaza is a tongue-in-cheek comment on the situation in Palestine.



Historic: Between 1998 and 2006, Angus Boulton took a series of photographs at Soviet military bases in and around Berlin

Eye-catching: Jack Milroy's Blast, which is one of a series of exploding bookworks the Scottish artist has produced

Message: Willie Doherty's Unapproved Road 2 is a scene showing a border road in rural Northern Ireland with an abandoned roadblock

Dark: German artist Frauke Eigen's took this photo of a jacket in Kosovo shortly after the end of 16 month war there, left, and Trio Sarajevo, right, shows how the world flocked to the Bosnian capital for the Olympics in 1984 but ten years later it was a warzone



Some artists aim to counter common opinions, while others explore the legacy of their own family history, or the long-term impact of conflict.



Willie Doherty's photograph Unapproved Road, showing a rural makeshift roadblock, suggests a violent past event and reminds us of the significance of land and territory in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

Graham Boxer, IWM North director, said: "IWM North is a venue for challenging exhibitions; a place for visitors to discuss big questions relating to war and conflict and our lives today.

'Catalyst: Contemporary Art And War contains some of the most important artworks on this theme of the past 25 years - on display together for the first time - and explores why war has inspired such creativity.'