Dan's Papers - April 17, 2009 -

While the title, "Poncho Rotation," is probably unfamiliar to most people, the show's anti-war theme is not. Just ask Joseph Giannini, a lawyer, former Marine captain and political activist who coined the title. (Marines are wrapped in their own ponchos and taken away when they are killed: "out of sight, out of mind."). His art show, sponsored by Artists for Peace, inspired the current one at the Surface Library Gallery in Springs this weekend.

Some of the participating artists highlight Vietnam, like Michael Knigin. His message is big, bold and satirical as a soldier is juxtaposed with a doll's head. The head is exaggerated and even a bit grotesque, but then so is war. Knigin's "Stage Center" features a similar theme, as Bugs Bunny stands to the side, observing soldiers clinging to each other. As to the message, take your pick: war is a fantasy, a joke, even a movie (recalling the film, Wag the Dog.)

A painting by Haim Mizrahi is more subtle, capturing the disorder and fragmentation of the Civil War. Unlike Knigin's expressionist/surrealist approach, Mizrahi's style is abstract, the Confederate flag's image tied together by pieces of tenuous string. The message is intriguing and fits the Civil War's demeanor perfectly, the string signifying both connections and disconnections between the states; the country is holding on for dear life.

Joseph Eschenberg's collages taken from the internet are intense as well, this time characterizing the wars in Vietnam and Iraq. The artist gives a face to people traumatized by the wars: close-ups of a hardened soldier smoking a cigarette and a naive girl's face wrapped in an American flag. In another image, rows of flags symbolize the unseen faces of the dead soldiers. The photograph is presented at a medium distance to suggest how we have removed ourselves from the fallen men and women.

"An American Landscape" by Eschenberg is a vertical piece featuring stripes that also distance the viewer from the images. The idea infers that we can never really "know" our landscape as we can never really know the nature of war.

Oliver Peterson examines a somewhat similar theme with his "Birth of a Nation," using photographs and found objects to characterize pop culture. Monica Sharf's video is another variation on America, with striking images of small town scenes. This time there is no implied irony as the videographer juxtaposes soldiers involved with everyday activities like marching in a parade.

Victor Kerpel's painting combines "old wars" (the Crusades) with a "new war" (Iraq) in a multi-layer figurative work suggesting that nothing has changed over the years.

Karyn Mannix is the only artist to use September 11 as a subject; her simple poem, over which the date "September 11, 2001" is superimposed, says it all. The poem's text is blurred on purpose. We can only make out a few words here and there ("No one is special; no one is better.") We are not meant to have clarity. Few wars ever do.

Bob Bachler, Rich MacDonald and Lynn Matsuoka are also participating artists.

"Poncho Rotation" will be at the Surface Library Gallery for three days only: April 17-19. The reception is April 18 from 3-7 p.m. Call 631-291-9061.