Peace Falls in Terror is one of 24 Peace Paintings Indiana created in 2003. A response to 9/11, they are a continuation of the political themes found in the artist’s work since his days on Coenties Slip. The paintings incorporate the modern peace sign, designed by Gerald Holtom in 1958 for the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. In this work, however, the peace sign is inverted, suggesting a falling bomb, symbolic of the continued political violence and the elusiveness of peace. Other Peace Paintings in which the sign has been inverted include Peace Plunges in Despair, Peace Sinks in Confusion, and Peace Dives in Oblivion.
