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Digital Archive Now Dig This!: Art and Black Los Angeles 1960–1980
Art John T. Riddle Jr., Gradual Troop Withdrawal
Gradual Troop Withdrawal, by John T. Riddle Jr., 1970

John T. Riddle Jr., Artist
Gradual Troop Withdrawal , 1970

Medium
Scrap-metal sculpture
Dimensions
48 in. (121.9 cm) tall
Credit Line
Collection of J. Stan Sanders, Los Angeles. Photo by Ed Glendinning

In Gradual Troop Withdrawal, Riddle depicts a soldier sprawling backward, supported by a circular steel frame that extends from his right leg. The soldier's left foot is fully rendered, but his body gradually disintegrates as the eye travels up to the nonexistent head. Here Riddle expressed his staunch opposition to the Vietnam War and the United States' promise of gradual withdrawal from the conflict.