An Artist's Reaction to War and War Memorial: Iraq and Afghanistan
August 31- October 9, 2009
An Artist's Reaction to War
Artists Cynthia Aldrich, Tom Ferguson, Nelida Otero Flatow, David Reed, Daniel Marchwinski, Cecilia Rossey, Kim Varnadoe, Dan Welden, Will Willner and Cyndi Wish react to the tragedies of war in drawing, painting, prints and sculpture in An Artist's Reaction to War. A gallery talk on both exhibitions will be held by artist and organizer of the exhibitions Cecilia Rossey at noon on Thursday, September 10, 2009. The exhibitions have traveled from Salem College, North Carolina where they were shown in February 2009.
An Artist's Reaction to War presents a wide range of reactions on the general subject of war past and present rather than focusing on a particular war or conflict. Artist Cynthia Aldrich was inspired by "the events in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in particular Kosovo in the 1990's." Aldrich's Arm-oire, a clever shrine like ceramic sculpture, calls the viewer's attention to the plight of women in war, those who contribute to the violence by bearing arms and those who are the victims of war violence.
On the other end of the spectrum Dan Welden's abstract monotype The Thrust of Mars employs layers of color and violent, frenetic mark-making to evoke a dark mood. Welden states "Its ominous presence may be representational of the underlying concern we have in our hearts and minds....wondering, sometimes worrying as the world continuously has the conflicts of war."
War Memorial: Iraq and Afghanistan
Artist Cecilia Rossey created a 28 panel memorial constructed from 4000+ woodcuts of a repeated shrouded figure. Each of the 4000+ prints represents a death in the Iraq- Afghanistan conflict. It is only when all of the prints are exhibited together that the viewer begins to understand the magnitude of so many deaths in this context rather than in the abstract. The memorial will be on exhibit in the board room adjacent to the gallery.
Alexandra Sherman
Curator, Dadian Gallery
