Exhibition Overview
Terms of Service is a contemporary art exhibition exploring the intersection of military service, private enterprise, conflict, and the stories we tell about war. The exhibition draws from my eight years of service in the United States Army, including multiple combat deployments, followed by my work as a private military contractor in the Middle East. The transition from military service to contract work became a central part of my experience, and raises questions about what happens when the work of war becomes a private profession. At the center of the exhibition are large-scale photographic works created from photographs originally captured with disposable cameras during my time in the Middle East. Digitally painted and manipulated, the images are printed approximately four by eight feet on aluminum, transforming personal documentary photographs into vibrant, monumental works that place the viewer directly inside the experience.
The photographs are accompanied by “Incident Reports”, firsthand accounts of extraordinary and sometimes unsettling experiences encountered while working in conflict environments. These accounts provide context for the images while also exploring the distance between an official record of an event and the human experience behind it.
A second tangible component is the “Go Bag”, a personal survival kit carried by a contractor in the event of separation from his team. Containing medical supplies, tools, and other survival items, the bag functions as both an artifact of the profession and an intimate portrait of the person who carried it.
If space and technical requirements permit, the exhibition may also include The Stories We Tell, a video installation incorporating propaganda imagery from the United States and groups operating in the Middle East. Rather than presenting these images as equivalent in ideology or purpose, the work examines the visual strategies through which propaganda constructs narratives, establishes enemies, appeals to emotion, and influences how audiences understand conflict.
Curatorial Approach
Terms of Service is intentionally neither a celebration nor a condemnation of military service. It places personal experience, documentary evidence, physical artifacts, and visual culture alongside one another and allows the viewer to consider the questions they raise.
The goal is not consensus, but conversation.
Educational & Community Potential
The exhibition offers opportunities for programming centered on veteran experiences, documentary photography, memory, visual storytelling, propaganda, the transition from military service to civilian and private-sector work, and the ways societies remember and interpret conflict.
Potential programming could include an artist talk, moderated conversations with veterans and civilians, discussions of photography and memory, and educational programming exploring how visual narratives influence our understanding of war.
Exhibition Components
John Quigley is a contemporary artist and U.S. Army veteran whose practice draws heavily from personal experience, popular visual culture, and the intersection of commercial and fine art. His work combines photography, digital painting, and mixed-media approaches to transform personal experiences into large-scale contemporary works. Terms of Service represents an effort to examine military service not simply as a historical experience, but as a complicated personal experience, and to invite viewers to consider the stories we tell about it.
Terms of Service is a contemporary art exhibition exploring the intersection of military service, private enterprise, conflict, and the stories we tell about war. The exhibition draws from my eight years of service in the United States Army, including multiple combat deployments, followed by my work as a private military contractor in the Middle East. The transition from military service to contract work became a central part of my experience, and raises questions about what happens when the work of war becomes a private profession. At the center of the exhibition are large-scale photographic works created from photographs originally captured with disposable cameras during my time in the Middle East. Digitally painted and manipulated, the images are printed approximately four by eight feet on aluminum, transforming personal documentary photographs into vibrant, monumental works that place the viewer directly inside the experience.
The photographs are accompanied by “Incident Reports”, firsthand accounts of extraordinary and sometimes unsettling experiences encountered while working in conflict environments. These accounts provide context for the images while also exploring the distance between an official record of an event and the human experience behind it.
A second tangible component is the “Go Bag”, a personal survival kit carried by a contractor in the event of separation from his team. Containing medical supplies, tools, and other survival items, the bag functions as both an artifact of the profession and an intimate portrait of the person who carried it.
If space and technical requirements permit, the exhibition may also include The Stories We Tell, a video installation incorporating propaganda imagery from the United States and groups operating in the Middle East. Rather than presenting these images as equivalent in ideology or purpose, the work examines the visual strategies through which propaganda constructs narratives, establishes enemies, appeals to emotion, and influences how audiences understand conflict.
Curatorial Approach
Terms of Service is intentionally neither a celebration nor a condemnation of military service. It places personal experience, documentary evidence, physical artifacts, and visual culture alongside one another and allows the viewer to consider the questions they raise.
The goal is not consensus, but conversation.
Educational & Community Potential
The exhibition offers opportunities for programming centered on veteran experiences, documentary photography, memory, visual storytelling, propaganda, the transition from military service to civilian and private-sector work, and the ways societies remember and interpret conflict.
Potential programming could include an artist talk, moderated conversations with veterans and civilians, discussions of photography and memory, and educational programming exploring how visual narratives influence our understanding of war.
Exhibition Components
- Large-scale photographic works printed on aluminum
- Firsthand Incident Reports
- Potential video installation, The Stories We Tell
John Quigley is a contemporary artist and U.S. Army veteran whose practice draws heavily from personal experience, popular visual culture, and the intersection of commercial and fine art. His work combines photography, digital painting, and mixed-media approaches to transform personal experiences into large-scale contemporary works. Terms of Service represents an effort to examine military service not simply as a historical experience, but as a complicated personal experience, and to invite viewers to consider the stories we tell about it.
