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A local artist will try to sell digitally altered photos of Iraq War casualties — including dead soldiers and Iraqi civilians — in an anti-war art gallery exhibit debuting Downtown today.

The artist's work comes on the heels of legislation that makes it illegal to profit from the name or likeness of military personnel killed in foreign battlefields, though the the law provides exceptions for art.

Even if Tucson artist Joe Rebholz's work doesn't violate state law, it's extremely offensive and callous to try to make money off of dead U.S. troops, said the mother of a Marine killed in Iraq and a local advocate for military families.

Under the law, which is being challenged in court by the American Civil Liberties Union, people can be charged with a misdemeanor for publishing the names or images of current or former military personnel for profit without permission from their families.

The law also allows families of fallen troops to seek damages if their relative's name or image is used without permission.

Rebholz, who has been creating art in Tucson since 1999, said he began this work in 2004 by using the Internet to find photos of soldiers and civilians killed in Iraq.

The artist, whose digital work has appeared in galleries throughout Southern Arizona, then manipulated the photos, changed their size and added colors, textures and other effects.

Rebholz said the distortions caused the faces of the soldiers and civilians to become unrecognizable, though some faces are more clear than others. In one piece, parts of a Marine's uniform are clearly visible.

The artist didn't use photos of any fallen soldier with local connections. Conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have claimed 31 service members with ties to Tucson and Southern Arizona.

Rebholz said he was inspired to produce the exhibit, which features dozens of photos ranging in size from 30 inches by 30 inches to 13 inches by 13 inches, because so few people grasp how many people have died because of the conflict.

"We don't like to think about all the people who are killed in this war," he said. "One of my ideas is to point out the cost of this war and make people think about whether it's worth it."

The artist didn't get permission from the families of the troops to use the photos, and in many cases, he said, he doesn't even know the names of military personnel depicted.

"I'm not disrespecting our soldiers or anyone who's been killed in the war," he said. "I think they're all human beings, and they need to be remembered."

If the faces are unrecognizable and the depictions are art, Rebholz's work is legal, said Sen. Jim Waring, a Phoenix Republican who introduced the new state law.

Rep. Lena Saradnik, a Tucson Democrat, wouldn't comment on Rebholz's art because she hadn't seen it. Speaking generally, she said that while it may be legal to display art that uses images of troops killed in combat, more respect should be given to families of fallen troops.

"When personal profit comes into the mix, there's a difference between political free speech and commercial free speech," she said. "We can't lose sight of the fact that there are children without parents and parents without children."

The law, which sailed through the Legislature unanimously before being approved by the governor on May 24, targeted a Flagstaff vendor who sells anti-war T-shirts bearing the names of dead troops.

The shirts have the words "Bush Lied" and "They Died" superimposed over the names of more than 3,000 U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq. The vendor, Dan Frazier, is trying to block enforcement of the law.

Frazier said Rebholz should be free to sell his work, and he believes that the law probably wouldn't apply to it. But the artist should expect plenty of controversy, he said.

"I have received numerous threats, some of them of physical violence, some of them of lawsuits," Frazier said.

While people can protest the war, making money from the images of dead military personnel is tasteless, said Kim Sloan, secretary for the state's Ladies Auxiliary for the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

"To have someone take somebody's family member, be it a father, son or daughter, and use that to promote their agenda, is totally reprehensible," said Sloan, who raises money and coordinates events for local military families. "And on top of that, to be making a profit off of it is beyond reprehensible."

Margy Bons, who lives in Phoenix and works with military families across the state, said she doesn't even consider Rebholz's creations to be art.

Bons, whose son, Marine Sgt. Michael Marzano, was killed in Iraq in 2005, said the anti-war lobby must be running out of arguments if they have to misappropriate images of dead troops to make a point.

"Why don't they stand on their own platform? Why are they using our fallen heroes?" she asked. "They don't speak for our fallen — they're using and abusing people who have already been hurt."

Bons' son strongly believed he was serving his country with honor, she said. While she opposes the war, Bons said she supported her son and wouldn't want to see his image misused.

Rebholz said he sympathizes with families who have lost a loved one in the war, but he wants to remind people about the conflict's consequences.

"I want people to know what the cost is," he said.

Sloan said the artist's message is lost on families who have seen their loved ones killed in the war.

"It's still using someone else's pain for your own personal gain," Sloan said.

Search a database of U.S. and coalition troops killed or wounded in action at go.azstarnet.com/casualties