In The Galleries: Melding Sound And Art

The Washington Post Wrote About The "Questioning The Bomb" Exhibition At The University Of Maryland Art Gallery.

Written By Mary Jenkins, The Washington Post

Photo Courtesy Allene Of Abrahamian 

Questioning The Bomb

For The 70th Anniversary Of The Atomic Bombings Of Japan, The University Of Maryland Art Gallery Is Showing More Than 80 Posters By Artists From Around The World. (Most Are New, But A Few Date From A Similar Effort In 1985.) The Starkly Powerful Placards In “questioning The Bomb: History And Non-Proliferation” Are Heavy On Red And Black, Stylized Bomb Shapes And Such Universally Understood Symbols As The Skull And Bones. Origami, Cherry Blossoms And Japanese Fans Are Inevitable Motifs, As Are The Dove And The Mushroom Cloud. Also Recurring Are The Names Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki, Written In Japanese Characters Or Roman Letters, And “heiwa” (“peace”) In Japanese.

Some Of The Images Seem Too Gentle To Be An Adequate Response. Doves Peck At A Missile, And A Bomb Mutates Into A Feather; Another Bomb Bears The Slogan “all We Need Is Love” And Is Trailed By A Heart-Shaped Cloud. In A Misfired Attempt At Whimsy, A Manga-Style Benihana Chef Filets A Bomb As If It Were A Shrimp, Accompanied By A Slangy Epithet.

Nearly All The Posters, However, Are Beautifully Executed And Demonstrate The Force Of Simple Ideas And Direct Expression. One Just Highlights The “n” And The “o” Near The Beginning Of The Names Of The Two Devastated Cities; Another, In The Style Of An Asian Ink Painting, Shows A Tree Whose Roots Are Drips Of Blood. The Poster’s Spare Lines Are As Ominous As The Black Wires That Outline The Skeletal Model, Hanging At The Gallery’s Rear, Of The Bomb That Hit Nagasaki.

Questioning The Bomb: History And Non-Proliferation On View Through Oct. 23 At The Art Gallery, 1202 Art-Sociology Building, University Of Maryland, College Park. 301-405-1474. Artgallery.Umd.Edu.

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