Installation view of deathmatch

By SUSAN GESCHEIDLE

Photos by Mickey Mosher

Bert Green Fine Art (BGFA), directed by its namesake, Bert Green, sits in Chicago’s historic Willoughby Tower. The gallery, says Green, is dedicated to thought provoking and timely exhibitions that push boundaries, in compliment to a print publishing division, which makes affordable limited editions for new and established collectors.The small venue complements its latest exhibition, Mac Pierce’s deathmatch, which explores themes of combat, war, and mortality, and is particularly well-suited to a more intimate environment. 

Fueled by his passion for technology, Chicago artist Pierce, a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Art & Technology Studies program, explores the complex and often troubling relationship between technological advancement and warfare. Pierce observes a disconnect between simulated and actual conflict. This phenomenon, he argues, has led to the erosion of social trust through the proliferation of misinformation. The artist describes himself as a “tinkerer and maker,” and his artistic approach is hands-on and experimental. He utilizes cutting-edge tools like AI, 3D printing, coding, and modding to deconstruct and critically examine the mechanisms of emerging weaponized technologies and surveillance.

Mac Pierce, Untitled (army man), 2025 - 3D printed PETG, Loctite® 4070, Nylon threaded rod, 65 x 48 x 18”.

This innovative spirit shines through in Pierce’s third solo exhibition at BGFA. The exhibition includes an eclectic mix of works, including found objects, combat games, drone footage, and even classic toys, all serving to explore the multifaceted impact of technological advancements on conflict and societal control. Gallery owner Bert Green said of the artist, “Mac Pierce caught my eye as a young and up and coming artist who has a brilliant conceptual approach to his work that resonates beautifully with our current era of disruptive technologies. “

The show’s title, deathmatch, comes from video game terminology referring to a competitive game mode where players score points by defeating opponents, popularized by Doom in the early 1990s and still common in first-person shooter games.

Pierce’s early understanding of conflict and war was significantly shaped by his grandfather, a World War II veteran. His grandfather introduced him to Army Men miniatures, a popular children’s toy that Time Magazine recognized in 2011 as one of the top 100 toys of all time. These small figures, coupled with a hand-carved wooden rifle from his grandfather and playing “Cowboys and Indians”—a game now viewed as culturally insensitive—instilled in Pierce his initial understanding of combat. However, contemporary perspectives now scrutinize these influences for two key reasons: the history of Native American genocide and concerns about violent games affecting children. Still, playing with miniature soldiers and enacting combat scenarios might, for some, stimulate imagination and strategic thinking. This exhibition features two artworks by Pierce, directly informed by these formative experiences, illustrating a journey from childhood play to artistic expression.

Mac Pierce, Real Toys for Real Boys, 2024, Plywood, edition of 6, 44 x 8 x 1”.

Upon discovering a damaged, discarded Army Men toy on a Chicago sidewalk, Pierce was inspired to create a scaled-up replica of the compelling footless soldier. A local engineering firm that conducts industrial scans performed a CT scan of the toy soldier, enabling Pierce to create an identical larger 3D-printed version. Untitled (army man,) is a green 3D-printed sculpture (65” x 48” x 18”) stamped with CHINA, referencing its origin and themes of global production and commodified war imagery. Pierce regards the human-sized sculpture as commentary on the monstrosity of war and its consequences. The nearby display of the original toy prompts viewers to consider its role as a symbol of conflict.

Real Toys for Real Boys is a piece consisting of six life-sized replica firearms crafted from plywood. The title originates from a former website, which advertised its wooden toy guns with the slogan “Real Toys for Real Boys.” Placed haphazardly around the gallery, the guns blend playful innocence with real firearm symbolism. Each wooden gun features an edition number mirroring a firearm serial number. The installation critiques the normalization of guns by displaying them as scattered toys.

I really like C/S/TS (Confidential, Secret, Top Secret,) a modestly sized linoleum print on paper (12 x 9 inches) created by Pierce in 2023. Though small in scale, it has a big impact within the exhibit because of the subject matter. It incorporates text from classified Pentagon documents leaked by Jack Teixeira in 2022 on the Discord platform. Teixeira, an IT specialist in the Massachusetts Air National Guard, shared sensitive details—like Ukraine troop movements, data on Chinese spy balloons, and weaknesses in Taiwan’s air defenses. The print visually mimics the original documents, showing creases and folds from pages Teixeira smuggled out. He stated that his actions were intended to address misinformation, but reports indicate his motivation was to impress online friends; he received a 15-year sentence in November 2024. The artwork draws on this event (that mirrors similar leaks, like the Pentagon Papers, WikiLeaks, Manning, and Snowden) to highlight ongoing issues of surveillance, data security, and misinformation. By using text of actual leaked material, C/S/TS prompts viewers to reflect on trust, accountability, and the complexities of information warfare and secrecy in the digital age.

Mac Pierce, We’re So Over, We’re So Back, 2025. (Detail pictured below)

Creative Technologist Pierce incorporates digital technology to craft engaging experiences. For The Effects of Terrestrial Events upon Celestial Mechanics, he uses recovered footage from a damaged drone found at the intersection of Monroe and S. Wabash streets, with scenes appearing to be shot in Chicago and Brazil. This footage is displayed on a wall-mounted Steam Deck alongside the drone, mounted on a stick on the wall. Pierce integrated drone footage from Ukrainian Telegram channels but deliberately excluded Russian footage due to Telegram’s perceived association with pro-Kremlin propaganda.

In a corner of the gallery sits Pierce’s KDR (Kill-Death-Ratio): an acrylic tombstone featuring a faint message, “YOU DIED,” in big block letters, burned into an embedded OLED monitor. Pierce kept the single text image on the monitor 24-7 for six months to create the ghosting. The piece, etched with a skull, rests on a polished concrete base atop a pedestal, mimicking a cemetery plot. This piece is one of my favorites—it’s intimate, and everyone has experienced loss and visited cemeteries. Pierce describes it as both a tribute to endless virtual gaming deaths and a stark reminder of mortality, especially in the context of war.

Top: KDR, 2025, OLED gaming monitor, acrylic, polished concrete, laser cut aluminum, vacuum formed ABS, 3D-printed ABS, modified monitor mount, Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, stainless steel hardware, HDMI cable, USB-C Cable, 20v AC adapter, DC step-down converter, heat-set inserts, wiring, ghosts, 25 x 17 x 11”.

We’re So Over, We’re So Back is a stunning 28 x 24 x 6-inch aluminum sculpture of a tech-ouroboros—a gleaming serpent caught in an eternal snack of its own tail. A blood red, water-cooled PC as its belly transforms its scales into a high-tech radiator, blurring the lines between human, machine, and reptile. The serpent’s gaze is fixed on an attached, adjacent monitor where a modified Counter-Strike game has gone rogue! Bots battle on ever-changing landscapes, hinting at technological and warfare loops. Pierce spent nine months learning the necessary skills through YouTube tutorials to construct the ouroboros sculpture, which runs the video game. A public build log documents his process, highlighting the power of self-learning and encouraging others to embrace their creative spirit. Pierce’s creation, like a perfectly executed move by a Counter-Strike professional, is brilliant and thought-provoking, sparking discussions on hacking, surveillance, and firearms. In the digital realm, the end is merely the beginning, and the game is always afoot! 

deathmatch

Thru October 18, 2025 

Open Friday 12–4PM, and by appt.

Bert Green Fine Art, 8 S. Michigan Avenue, Ste. 620, Chicago

bgfa.us

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