exhibition: Testimony to War: Art from the Battlegrounds of Iraq

Testimony to War: Art from the Battlegrounds of Iraq
February 4 - March 8, 2008

Visual Arts Museum
209 East 23 Street, New York, NY 10010
212.592.2145
http://www.sva.edu

Panel discussion: Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 7pm

School of Visual Arts (SVA) presents Testimony to War: Art from the Battlegrounds of Iraq, an exhibition that brings together the creative output of five emerging and established artists, each of whom has a direct experience of the war in Iraq: Army Major Peter Buotte, former Army SergeantAaron Hughes, embedded artist Steve Mumford, embedded photographer Lucian Read, and former Army Staff Sergeant Ryan Roa. Curated by Francis Di Tommaso, director of the Visual Arts Museum,Testimony to War will include examples of painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and video representative of the artists' distinctive bodies of work and of their uniquely personal vantage points of the war. Ranging from the subtly conceptual to the graphically raw, these works drive home the human costs of war as they bring us closer to the street-level reality of Iraq.

Testimony to War encompasses a wide range of formal approaches, from powerful documentary interpretations to highly stylized reflections. The works suggest the varied possibilities for artistic response to war, from the realistic, on-site drawings of Steve Mumford, to Peter Buotte's installation of target-shaped American flag magnets, which evokes the number of US military deaths in Iraq, toAaron Hughes' collaborative project with Ahmed Jabar Shareef, a nine-year old boy from Baghdad who was blinded in a firefight outside of his home.

The exhibition will include several never-before-exhibited works. On view will be a selection of images by award-winning photographer Lucian Read, accompanied by a narrative voice-over by the artist. The photographs depict Marines with whom he was embedded--from scenes of fraternal camaraderie to stark images of isolation and displacement--and the devastating aftermath of combat for both Americans and Iraqis. Steve Mumford's recent drawings and watercolors, of which approximately 20 will be on view, chronicle the daily routines of soldiers, crowded street scenes bustling with activity, private moments of grief in a military hospital, and veterans undergoing physical therapy back in the U.S. Testimony to War will also mark the first viewing of Ryan Roa's installation, Freedom Calls; standing on an elevated plywood platform in the shape of a U.S. flag shoulder patch, the visitor listens to Americans define freedom in phone calls placed randoml y by the artist.

The Visual Arts Museum, located at 209 East 23rd Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, is open 9am to 7pm, Monday through Friday, and 10am to 6pm on Saturday. Admission is free. The gallery is accessible by wheelchair. For further information call 212.592.2145.

School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City is an established leader and innovator in the education of artists. From its inception in 1947, the faculty has been comprised of professionals working in the arts and art-related fields. SVA provides an environment that nurtures creativity, inventiveness and experimentation, enabling students to develop a strong sense of identity and a clear direction