Eleven artists who are veterans will have their artwork showcased at A Revolution of Values, a group exhibition at the Elmhurst Art Museum. The exhibit is part of the Third Veteran Art Triennial and Summit, “Resisting the Long War,” which gives veterans an opportunity to share their feelings about war and military service.
The exhibit runs from Sept. 12 to Jan. 3 at the museum, 150 S. Cottage Hill Ave. in Elmhurst.
More Top Picks Headlight Restoration
“I think it’s one of the highlights of the Chicago exhibition season,” said Allison Peters Quinn, executive director and chief curator of the Elmhurst Art Museum. “When I first saw the exhibit, I asked if I could be part of it. Having the show out here in Elmhurst will bring a new audience that doesn’t know about the Triennial.”
Quinn said the Elmhurst Art Museum gave full-authorship to the veteran curators, letting them make all decisions, because “part of the exhibition is about highlighting veteran artists and veteran curators. We stepped down and supported them as much as we could in bringing the audience to them.”
Longtime Schiller Park resident Eric Perez served five years of active duty in the Marine Corps, stationed at Camp Pendleton, including two tours to Iraq.
The acclaimed photographer is one of the Triennial artists. “In 2023, I was a National Endowment for the Humanities Art Fellow,” Perez reported. It was one of many honors he has received for his work.
Perez stresses the importance of the Triennial to the veteran artists and others.
“Veterans get to share their stories, share our narratives, our unique perspectives,” Perez explained. “The variety of thought that is contained within the veteran community. And we get to express that to the public, and hopefully bring a little humanity to the veterans and those affected by the war. The goal is to get people to have more empathy for each other.”
Perez’s contribution to the group show is works from two series he is creating.
“One is a series of portraits that I have been taking of some of my platoon-mates,” Perez said. “It was 20 years since the last time we were together. I’ve been traveling the country, meeting them in their homes, and finding a location to take their portrait.”
Perez started that project in 2022.
“I’m hoping to keep traveling the country and reuniting with these veterans,” Perez said. “A lot of that reuniting is a lot of talking about 20 years after our service. What do we think of our role in the military 20 years afterwards? What keeps us surviving?”
Although Perez has recordings of those meetings with his platoon mates, he hasn’t yet incorporated that into his artwork.
The second series is one in which Perez works with his old digital photographs from his deployment, in which he opens up the image code to create an image of what the computer reads. “It’s the computer processing my memory and reimagining the photo,” the artist explained. The process is complicated but the results are impressive.
People who attend “Create With Us: Eric Perez,” noon to 4 p.m. Nov. 14, will have a chance to create a piece of art inspired by Perez’s work. In addition, from noon to 1:45 p.m., Perez will take family portraits for veterans who preregister at elmhurstartmuseum.org/events/eric%20perez%20create%20with%20us. This event is included with museum admission.
More Top Picks Best Floor Standing Speakers
Aaron Hughes is co-curator of the Veteran Art Triennial and Summit. He served in the Illinois Army National Guard from 2000-2006, with deployments to Kuwait and Iraq.
As co-curator with Mohamed Mehdi and Amber Zora, Hughes said, “We select artists, select the artwork, organize the exhibitions, select the territorial themes and the exhibition narrative.”
Over 60 artists were chosen for exhibits at four locations — the Chicago Cultural Center, Hyde Park Art Center, Walls Turned Sideways, and the Elmhurst Art Museum. Eleven artists were selected for the Elmhurst Art Museum’s exhibit.
“At Elmhurst, we decided to specifically put veteran artists in dialogue with the wider range of artists impacted by U.S. wars and militarism to understand the complexities and the devastation we’re all kind of navigating,” Hughes explained.
He added that, at Elmhurst, “we are trying to get back to where the Triennial emerged from, which is the veteran art movement, and frame it around the veteran artists. Their work is in dialogue with the archives from Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Iraq Veterans Against the War.”
The show at Elmhurst is called “A Revolution of Values,” because that is a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech,” Hughes noted. “After that speech, there was a march to the U.N. And during that march was the first time that Vietnam veterans marched under a banner that said Vietnam Veterans Against the War.”
“We’re looking at how contemporary, cutting-edge veteran art is turning militarism to anti-war activism. How they are turning from their military service to civilian life or peace activism,” Hughes said.
Details about related activities are at elmhurstartmuseum.org.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.