War is Trauma Portfolio at UWM

The exhibition "War and Rumors of War:  Artists, Veterans, and Artists Books" will be on view in the 4th Floor Gallery of UWM's Golda Meir Library through August 30, 2012.

The exhibition presents how artists, veterans, and veteran-artists have used the book arts as tools for examining, processing, and critiquing the many and complex dimensions of human warfare, from ancient conflicts to contemporary wars, including the broad scope of American engagement in armed combat.  Inevitably, any treatment of war is reduced to its long-term effects on individuals, and so it is with "War and Rumors of War."

The exhibition includes work by internationally recognized artists, such as Pablo Picasso, Stanley William Hayter, Ronald King, and Warrington Colescott; noted regional artists, such as Brian Borchardt, Fred Hagstrom, Caren Heft, Lewis Koch, Colin Matthes, and Jeff Morin; current and former UWM faculty, including Nicolas Lampert, Lindsay Lochman, Steve Nelson-Raney, and Danny Pierce; and UWM students and alumni, including Daniel Lindsay, Petra Press, and Dan Wang.

Besides the work of individual artists, "War and Rumors of War" also brings focus to the activities and book projects of several social/political-action cooperatives, including Combat Paper Project, Veterans Book Project, Justseeds Artists' Cooperative, and Iraq Veterans Against the War whose recent portfolio project with Justseeds, "War is Trauma," serves as the backdrop that unifies the entire exhibition.  

After war, there is always a semblance of healing, and the exhibition reflects the human need for that process as well.  It is expressed through book structure, handmade paper, letterpress, woodcuts, etchings, silkscreen, photography, offset lithography, digital processes, and hand work.  Still, there seems no way to soften or get around the maxim that “war is hell.”  There really is no such thing as a “good war” or a “bad peace.”  As the character Hawkeye Pierce is made to say in the television version of M*A*S*H*, “War isn't Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse.”  When asked why, he responds, “There are no innocent bystanders in Hell.”

Gallery hours are Monday - Friday, 8 am - 5 pm, or by appointment by contacting libspecial@uwm.edu or calling 414.229.4345.