ABATEMENT OF DRAFT RIOTS, 2017
spray-paint and acrylics on canvas
78.7 x 57.1 inches
On the first night, the street fighting had been so fierce that probably half of New York would have burned to the ground had a rainstorm not passed over the city during the night. After the battle for New York had raged for days, finally, at 10 p.m. on July 15, 1863, worn and sunburned units from the Battle of Gettysburg came to the aid of the defeated police.
Irish soldiers were now firing on their own countrymen in New York – for some a demonstration of true loyalty to the state, for others an image of horror. The military finally gained the upper hand and fought their way through houses and barracks to break the last remaining resistance.