Anti-war art, film housed in Wealthy Theatre

GRAND RAPIDS -- An unusual new venue for visual artists with political, cultural or social commentary is evolving at Wealthy Theatre. Since taking over the facility a year ago, Grand Rapids Community Media Center has screened films addressing social and cultural issues, and recently added topical visual artworks to the mix.

In February, the venue ran a series of human rights films in collaboration with Grand Valley State University's School of Communications. In conjunction, in the west lobby of the theater, it displayed a collection of photos dealing with the human cost of war taken by New York artist Stanley Greene while in Chechnya 1994-2003.

Now, the theater is showing "Why We Fight," Eugene Jarecki's documentary about the influence of corporations on American military policy, with an exhibit and silent auction of 24 war-related works by 10 local artists.

"People were excited about the first exhibit, so we decided to do this one because it's the third anniversary of the Iraq War," said Jeff Smith, director of the Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy, a program of the GRCMC. He organized the exhibit with artist Alynn Guerra. Both have works in the show.

In addition to Guerra and Smith, Grand Rapids artists in "Art Against War" include Travis Stephen Childs, Brett Colley, Elaine Hannik, Joseph Post and Elizabeth Vedrine, all of Grand Rapids. Other contributors are: Dean Stephens, of Cedar Springs, and Nic Van Dyke, of Caledonia.

Few other area organizations -- the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts is a notable exception -- screen alternative films or display politically charged artworks. The budding Wealthy Theatre exhibition program is unique in that it does both.

The movie/visual arts show combination is powerful. Films like "Why We Fight," which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, can cover a lot of ground in 90 minutes. That sets the stage for viewers to browse art within an informed framework that helps them assess and, perhaps, better appreciate the images they see.

"Art Against War" includes many prints, which is appropriate for such an opinionated show. The medium brings to mind hastily copied posters for anti-war rallies and other grassroots action that one sees on light poles and bulletin boards around town.

Some of the best works are by Brett Colley, a GVSU professor who offers a series of four multiblock relief prints depicting proponents of the Iraq War in settings that recall editorial cartoons and comic books.

For example, "Tyrannosaurus Rumsfeld" shows a giant head of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on the body of a dinosaur fighting off soldiers as if he were Godzilla in a battle with Japanese civilians. In the background, it's raining the yellow ribbons used to show one's support for our troops, and a "speech bubble" coming from Rumsfeld's mouth shows the red image of stars and stripes.

Alynn Guerra takes a more subtle approach with several small prints featuring a few repeated images to make her point.

"War No. 2" is a long, narrow monotype that combines two simple images: a red print that looks like the bloody bottom of a soldier's boot and a gray silhouette of a helmet. The boot prints extend like bloody raindrops (or tears) in a haphazard line from the top of the frame down to a pile of helmets.

At the other extreme in size, Guerra has a 10-foot-long metaphor for the quagmire of war titled "Let Go." The print depicts a soldier hanging upside down from a rope tied around his leg.

The only way he can maintain the awkward position is to keep a grip on the other end of the rope. Conversely, the only way he can be free is to let go.