Published on 10/3/2016.
The Dirty Canteen: Contemporary Art Made by Military Veterans will be on exhibit at the College of the Redwoods Creative Arts Gallery October 10 to November 17, 2016, with a public reception for the Artists on Tuesday, October 11 from 4-6 pm. This exhibition includes artists from The Dirty Canteen Art Collective and features work by Jesse Albrecht, Drew Cameron and the Combat Paper Project (www.combatpaper.org), Amber Hoy, Aaron Hughes, Ash Kyrie, Giuseppe Pellicano, and Ehren Tool. The show contains illustrative ceramic sculpture, imagery on handmade paper created from military uniforms, a project of photographs accompanied by audio tracks recounting a female perspective on military life, sculptural interpretations of archeological and ritualistic objects, a video and display of drinking cups that explore the metaphor of the vessel as soldier, and a large scale installation of works on paper. The stories told through the works in this exhibition translate into conversations that aim to bridge the gap between military and civilian cultures.
The Dirty Canteen is a metaphor for experiences while in the military. Members are soldiers and humanitarians, and though they can no longer do so in uniform, they choose to continue service to others through the arts. Artists featured in this exhibition served in conflicts from Afghanistan to the Gulf War and Iraq. These seven artists served honorably in the military and aim to raise awareness about issues veterans face while returning home from conflict.
This dialog attempts to bring understanding of how war and trauma not only affect members of the military, but our society as a whole. The Dirty Canteen mission is not to promote a particular point of view about the military or war, but to pose questions about the many difficult and genuine concerns the American community possesses about current and past military engagements.
The Creative Arts Gallery is located on the CR Eureka main campus, in the Creative Arts Complex at the campus north entrance, and is open Mondays through Thursdays 10 am to 5:30 pm and by appointment. Please contact (707) 476-4559 for more information.
This programming is supported by College of the Redwoods Veterans Services, College of the Redwoods Student Equity, and the College of the Redwoods Clay Club.