Nina Berman Media Mentions
Spc. Luis Calderon by Nina Berman
Joanna Molloy, the Molloy in New York Daily News gossip column duoRush & Molloy, attending Nina’s opening on August 8th. She chatted with Nina for a while about the exhibition, and a small knot of eavesdroppers gathered around them loosely while they talked – Joanna was so engaged and asked such good questions, and Nina is just incredibly articulate about the work. (You can find out yourself at the artist talk next week.) Joanna’s interest in the show led to the somewhat unlikely bold-faced appearance of Nina and the subject of one of her portraits, Luis Calderon (pictured above) in yesterday’s Rush & Molloy column:
Luis Calderon was paralyzed in Iraq — but can’t get a Purple Heart. The 22-year-old was injured when a mural of Saddam Hussein he was ordered to pull down with his tank crashed onto him, and you must be injured in combat with an enemy to receive the medal. Photos of him and other disabled Iraqi vets are now up at the Jen Bekman Gallery, where photographer Nina Berman, who includes the pics in her book, “Purple Hearts,” will speak Aug 29.
James Wagner and Barry Hoggard stopped in to see the exhibition on Saturday. You can read about James’s response to the exhibition over on his blog.
About the photo:
22 years old, 4th Infantry Division, was wounded May 5, 2003 in Tikrit. A concrete wall with Saddam’s face on it, which Calderon had been ordered to destroy, came crashing down on him, severing his Spinal cord and leaving him a quadriplegic. His entire family moved from Puerto Rico to south Florida to take care of him.
Photographed December 17, 2003 at the Miami Veterans Hospital.
“From my neckline down, I can not feel anything…. I got an Army Commendation Medal. I didn’t get a Purple Heart. I feel like I deserve one. It would make me more confident that I really did something.”
August 23rd, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Geezzz…. Everybody wants a Purple Heart these days. Sure- I respect the job Mr. Calderon did under difficult circumstances. But why should be awarded the Purple Heart for having a piece of artwork fall down on him?
jIf really that desparet I will gladly sell him the Purple Heart I received after being blasted apart by an enemy RPG.
September 8th, 2007 at 6:30 am
A picture can say more than thousand words…...
Heard about the exhibition on the radio(swedish).
Afther seeing the pictures; I tried to find an old Life Magazine, June 8 1970 who tells the story about The Forgotten Wounded.
Also a very strong report. Like an echo of the past.
Thank you for showing these men.
Bengt Bergman
Sweden