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| poster image by Maly Marstens |
November 11 marks the 100th anniversary of
Armistice Day, the ceasefire that ended the First World War. The Puffin
Cultural Forum and Frontline Arts commemorate Armistice Day with an exhibition
of art works created to inspire countering cultural forces that would allow
history to repeat itself, yet again.
The exhibition opening is Saturday, November 10 at 6
pm at The Puffin Cultural Forum, 20 Puffin Way, Teaneck, NJ. The event is free
and open to the public. The art show runs through January 19.
Curated by Walt Nygard, Jan Barry and Ron Erickson,
the exhibition includes paintings, prints, sculptures and mixed-media works by
a variety of artists including Greta Anderson, Jan Barry, Donna Bassin, Terry
Berkowitz, Marco Bras, Karen Brussat Butler, Rebecca Darge Christensen, Anne
Dushanko Dobek, Michael Eckstein, Ron Erickson, Jim Fallon, Cathleen Ficht, Karen Fiorito, Manda
Gorsegner, Rachel Heberling, Tara Krause, Nathan Lewis, Talia Lugacy, Sigrid H.
Mabel, Gardner McFall, Len Merlo, MaryAnn L. Miller, Liz Mitchell, Ruth Bauer
Neustadter, Walt Nygard, Joanne Ross, Anthony Santella, Kenneth Schnall,
Leokadia Stanik, Greg Stone, Onnie C. Strother, Nina Talbot, Vilja Virks-Lee, Frank
Wagner, Eli Wright, and James Yee.
“‘The Wire’ and ‘One Hundred Years’ are companion
pieces in that very little has changed in one hundred years except for the
backdrop. In 1918 there was a wall of fire wrought by artillery and today there
is green grass and blue skies though the barb wire remains,” Ron Erickson, a
painter and printmaker from Bogota, NJ, notes in an artist’s statement.
“These days we have no day marking the end of war, no
day to celebrate, to proclaim: It’s Over!” says MaryAnn L. Miller, a book
artist and poetry coordinator for the NJ Book Arts Symposium. “Battle continues
to destroy, to displace populations that will never find a way back to their
homes. ‘On Foot/By Hand’ is about those populations: the refugees, the
migrants, the asylum seekers, the bombed out.”
“Art can speak for me,” says Rebecca Darge Christensen,
an artist from Des Moines, Iowa, who contributed a triptych titled “War. Peace.
Armistice.” “I can communicate with everyone through the channel of
art. If I can bring people together to the table, with art and food, every
prejudice that overrides beauty and goodness is broken. Art can, and should be,
accessible to everyone. Through accessibility comes understanding; the tie
that binds us to peace and contentment.”
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