“War is Trauma” exhibition
Alex Bacon of IVAW and Coffee Strong talks with visitors to “War is Trauma”
“War is Trauma” a portfolio of prints jointly produced by Justseeds Collective and Iraq Veterans Against the War on display at the M. Rosetta Hunter Gallery, Seattle Central Community College February 26 – March 21, 2013. The exhibiition is on loan from my collection. Ken Matsudaira, director of the gallery, installed the exhibition beautifully.
At the opening several classes of students filled the gallery in successive waves, art, art history, ethics, as well as members of the general public. I gave a presentation about the prints and Alex Bacon spoke about Coffee Strong, a veteran owned, veteran operated safe place for veterans near Base Lewis McChord in Washington State.
Tatiana Garmendia (in the pink) brought her printmaking students. I will be bringing the portfolio to her class next quarter to talk in detail about it as both process and image.
The exhibition consists of original lithographs that address various aspects of the traumas that soldiers and veterans face, including PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) TBI ( Traumatic Brain Injury), Sexism, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual Abuse. The prints range in style from realistic depictions to expressionist based imagery, they include text integrated into the image as part of the message, and sometimes text as the entire topic.
The prints bring together aesthetics and politics in a sophisticated and effective combination. Anyone can understand the message of the image, at the same time that they can appreciate the way in which the various esthetics intensify the subject.
The entire portfolio can be downloaded from the IVAW website.
There is a an article about the exhibition here.
