Art of Injustice exhibition opening
| When |
Friday, February 7, 2014 6:30pm to 9pm |
|---|---|
| Where |
The Cup 1608 W. University Ave |
| What | Art exhibitions, photography, writing, outreach, the village, drawing, collage |
The “Art of Injustice” antiwar art exhibit opens at The Cup in the Village on Friday, February 7th and is on display through March 9th. The showing wants to bridge the gulf between a military and a civilian experience of war by featuring two war veteran artists and two civilian contributors.
The opening night event will occur between 6:30 and 9:00 p.m. at The Cup this Friday. It will begin with music and will include presentations of the exhibit’s artists. The night will end with a drum circle.
The two veterans featured in the show are art professionals who use their war experience as inspiration for their art, as well as for their strong belief in the need to fight war only when it is morally justifiable to do so.
The surprisingly effective war awareness art of Ehren Tool, a ceramist, explores the decoration of an object of everyday use, the cup, to signify the death, destructiveness and futility of war. Ehren, a Gulf War veteran, believes that, for some, “the cups have been a place to start a conversation about the unspeakable.”
Aaron Hughes, Chair of the Art Committee for the National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago, is a nationally known artist-activist who prefers to capture experiences of beauty, poetry, and connection, to reclaim his sense of self. His life was radically transformed by the dehumanization and oppression he saw after being sent to Iraq by the National Guard.
Jake Ressler, a Ball State University senior with a focus on a career in human rights work, is featured prominently, as well. His art – both his collage work and his poetry – is extraordinarily powerful and compelling in its depiction of war and its excesses.
Finally, George Wolfe, a renowned saxophone musician, and a former director of the BSU Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, is included for his antiwar poetry and his exploration of world music as a protest against war.
See the exhibit’s allied website at: http://artofinjustice.org/.
The intended audience for the show and the website includes veterans, but the goal is also to reach the uninitiated, to educate and explain. This as an excellent opportunity to increase understanding about the long-term effects of war, with the art and website creating platforms for community reflection and dialogue.