Iraq Quilts come to New York
Nyack, NY — Artist Annemarie Zwack is one of many who oppose the US invasion and occupation of Iraq. What is unusual is how she decided to voice her dissent. She made quilts—and used soft materials to take a hard, human look at the war in Iraq. After a multi-city trunk-show tour through North America, the entire collection is featured at the Hopper House Art Center in Nyack, NY.
In 2004, while flying home from overseas, looking down on the globe, and wondering what an American artist could say about the death and destruction in Iraq, Zwack decided to use the visual language of ancient Mesopotamia to talk about modern Iraq. She sat in on a class at Cornell University on the history of the Ancient Near East to learn more. Through a combination of techniques such as painting, mono-printing, and sewing, Zwack began to create the series of quilted paintings titled “Where the Wheel Was Born”.
Sometimes disturbing, at other times comic or poignant, Zwack’s quilted paintings depict a very human look at the face of war. The work addresses war’s complex lessons by relating the history of Iraq—the site of ancient Mesopotamia and the birthplace of civilization—to Iraq’s current situation. “There is a direct link between this history and what the US is doing in Iraq,” Zwack says. She translated the classical Mesopotamian imagery found in the Standard of Ur, a mosaic tablet that is one of the earliest representations of a Sumerian army, to create her “Standard of Us”. She changed chariots into tanks, ancient captives into the prisoners of Abu Ghraib, and a Mesopotamian king into a modern president. In a piece called “Witness” the image of Sumerian votive figurines’ giant, black pool eyes both absorb the destruction of their homeland and watch the viewer. In a series of three maps of Iraq, she contrasts places of the ancient world such as Ninevah, Babylon, and even Eden with images of the current war.
With the idea that art can be used as a powerful tool for social change, Zwack packed her quilts in a trunk and hit the road. Taking her work to rural quilting circles, urban coffee houses, and private homes Zwack has run into a wide range of opinions but has always found people eager to talk about the issues her work raises. “Public dialogue about the war is critical, especially in an election year.” Zwack says. Newspapers including the Washington Post, Vermont Today, and The Ithaca Journal have covered Zwack and her work. (see attached reviews)
From February 2 through March 2, 2008 ‘Where the Wheel was Born’ will find a home at the Hopper House Art Center. Hopper House, at 82 North Broadway, Nyack, NY, is the birth-place and family home of American artist Edward Hopper. Today, it is a non-profit art center that hosts monthly art exhibitions.
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