The Dangers of Allegory

Monumental Painting A Multilayered Remembrance Of 9/11
September 11, 2006 - By DEBORAH HORNBLOW, Courant Staff Writer

Graydon Parrish's new painting, "The Cycle of Terror and Tragedy: September 11, 2001," is the sort of work that rewards detailed inspection. Figurative, allegorical and emotional, the painting was created to commemorate one of the darkest days in American history. Unveiled in recent weeks at the New Britain Museum of American Art, "The Cycle of Terror and Tragedy" is an arresting 8- by 18-foot oil-on-canvas work that occupies a single wall in the museum's new Chase Family Building.

The following was overheard while Mars and I were viewing the painting.

Father and mother in their mid to late thirties and (presumably) their two sons around eight to ten years of age.

Father: "It's an artist's interpretation of what happened in New York City on 9/11."

Son: "You mean they blindfolded the kids?"