OUT OF RUBBLE will have a reception and a lecture on the show by curator Susanne Slavick on October 22 as part of ‘Peace Out of War,’ a series of events organized by The College of Arts and Sciences, including a Benjamin Britten concert on October 27. ‘Peace Out of War’ events connect to the university’s affirmation of a philosophy of life that actively supports peace with justice, the health of the planet and its people.
Slavick’s own work, as an artist and as co-founder of 10 Years + Counting, led her to research and edit OUT OF RUBBLE (Charta, 2011), an anthology of works by contemporary artists who address the aftermath of current and past wars. The book includes essays by Slavick and Holly Edwards and works by international artists from Diana Al-Hadid to Xu Zhen. A selection of these artists for the OUT OF RUBBLE exhibit at La Verne include: Taysir Batniji, Wafaa Bilal, Enrique Castrejon, Lenka Clayton, Decolonizing Architecture (with Sara Pellegrini), Jane Dixon, Monica Haller, Andrew Ellis Johnson, Jennifer Karady, Osman Khan, Samina Mansuri, Simon Norfolk, Rocio Rodriguez, elin o’Hara slavick, Susanne Slavick and Elaine Spatz — Rabinowitz.
OUT OF RUBBLE reacts to the wake of war — its realities and its representations. The rubble that each war leaves behind shapes today and tomorrow — physically, psychologically and spiritually. OUT OF RUBBLE presents works by artists who consider its causes and consequences, its finality and future, moving from decimation and disintegration to the possibilities of regeneration and recovery. The USA recently surpassed ten years of war in Afghanistan, the longest war in this country’s history. As wars erupt and rage throughout the world, OUT OF RUBBLE remains all too timely.
Facing the failure and wreckage of war, poet Wislawa Szymborska wrote: “Reality demands that we mention this: Life goes on.” Artists meet this demand through responses that are invariably somber, both tender and unflinching. Through images and narratives bound up in the crises of truth, they acknowledge and strive toward the impossible task of comprehending the incomprehensible.
