By Elijah Mckenzie
Four artists, each with their own distinct voice, have assembled together at the University of Louisville to cry out against the horrors of war; each outcry is on display in the Rare Books and Special Collections department in the Ekstrom Library through November.
Under the guidance of curators Nancy Howell Koehler and Delinda Buie, these artists have found a means in which to convey their message of peace and respect to the university.
Award-winning photojournalist and U of L alumnus Gordon Baer presented several photographs depicting the despondent state of Vietnam veterans. According to Baer’s essays, soldiers who had returned to civilian life from such depraved warfare often struggled to re-adjust to normal society, feeling out of place among their peers, like “old men in young men’s bodies.”
When speaking about his work, Baer expressed grave concern about humanity’s complacency towards violence in the world, including our nation’s current course of action in Iraq, and said we should become “righteously indignant.”
“It was like you couldn’t speak out against it,” said Baer in regards to the Vietnam War. “And now, some 30 years later, we seem to be falling into the same state of mind.”
In what could be seen as the most provocative piece in the
exhibit, “Field of Limbs: 832,” renowned sculptor Gershon Gurin-Podlish cast the image of legs, arms, hands and feet in plaster and set them in an organized pile against the shade of pale blue light. As each limb stands to represent the number of amputees in Iraq as of August 2008, Gershon said he hopes to broaden his audience’s understanding of war and the effects thereof.
“Our job is not to commemorate or document war,” Gershon said. “At best, we can define war through the narrow corridor of human understanding.”
The two other artists in “Four for Peace,” Joan Tallan and Saad Goshn, were unable to attend the exhibition.
Among Goshn’s many woodcut prints, portraying humanity in all its forms, the one picturing a broken Christ on a cross is perhaps the most eye-catching. The note accompanying the illustration states, “In the name of Jesus, we destroy Jesus,” referring to an authority’s use of religion to justify oppression.
With vivid abstraction, Tallan depicted war as little more than “ordered chaos”, as described by Donald Vish, President of Interfaith Paths to Peace. In one particular print, where images of battle crowd the frame, there sits President Bush in the foreground, seemingly oblivious to the disarray surrounding him; pieces such as this critique not only wars in general but those who conduct wars as well.
Rare Books curator Delinda Buie noticed the initial reactions of students upon first entering the exhibit.
“Many of them were silent as they walked around,” said Buie. “They were reflective and quiet.”
The “Four for Peace” exhibit will continue to run at Ekstrom library until Nov. 28.
