Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I, lost meaning in the United States when several decades after its adoption, a vote converted it to Veterans’ Day. Instead of serving as a solemn reminder of senseless violence, all too often it is used as a way to glorify war and the military.
As we reach the end of the World War I Centenary, a few local institutions have taken closer looks at that conflict, along with war in the broader sense.
Connecticut Historical Society is about to close its exhibit that examines Connecticut’s role in the first world war, from manufacturing to fighting, or in the case of some, refusing to fight.
At the Wadsworth Atheneum, there are two exhibits on view through January 2019 that capture the horrors of war. Bouke de Vries’ War and Pieces installation is shattered porcelain scattered on a dining table, complete with hybrids of weapons and eating utensils. Body parts of figurines are strewn into the mix. It is one of the more impressive Matrix exhibits housed at the Wadsworth in recent memory. Upstairs, the Monsters & Myths exhibit features surrealist responses to fascism and war, with works from bigger name artists, alongside those by Wolfgang Paalen, Richard Oelze, and Dorothea Tanning. This presentation offers context typically devoid from the viewing of the exhibit’s more known and popular pieces. As its name promises, the art reveals monsters, figures twisted in pain, and the super realism of the nightmares of war.
For more art talk, listen to Going/Steady, episode 10.