Exhibition: Anti-War Medals: at Velvet da Vinci Art Jewelry and Sculpture Gallery, San Francisco

Anti-War Medals was first shown in San Francisco in November 2003 as a response to the War in Iraq. The exhibition then toured during 2004 and 2005, adding new pieces in each country where the show appeared. The expanded exhibition with 200 artists from 16 countries returned to Velvet da Vinci in Novmber 2005 as a response to the ongoing war and occupation in Iraq.

The exhibition has now been revivied at Thomas Mann's Gallery I/O in Now Orleans with some of the original pieces and many new ones reflecting the continuing war, destruction and frustration with U.S. involvement in the war in Iraq.

The exhibition at Thomas Mann Gallery will be displayed from October 6 through November 17, 2007.

Please go to Thomas Mann Gallery, for more information.

To see images from the exhibition at Thomas Mann Gallery click here:
Thomas Mann GalleryAnti-War Exhibition Images

Following is the original statement from November 2003:

ANTI-WAR MEDALS: ARTISTS RESPOND TO THE WAR

The War in Iraq has ended (or has it?) and are we any safer? The costly occupation of Iraq has yet to bring democracy to its people or security to the U.S. The War has fueled hatred of the US around the world and weakened alliances built up over decades. Artists have a long history of reflecting on the events surrounding them. We feel that this is one of those times.

135 artists from 16 countries have created medals that reflect the terrible waste of this war. Medals commemorate heroes and battles but also Grief, Destruction, Terror, Greed, Hypocrisy, Arrogance and Loss. This war is remembered by artists from around the world with small but powerful objects that remind us the risks of unchecked power.

EXHIBITION VENUES:

Velvet da Vinci Gallery San Francisco, California, November 1-30, 2003 and November 1 - 20, 2005

Electrum Gallery London, England, May 7-29, 2004

Festspillene i Nord-Norge Harstad, Norway, June 19 - 26, 2004

Nordnorsk Kunstnersentrum Svolvær, Norway, July 2 - 25, 2004

The Tromsø Kunstforening Tromsø, Norway, August 2 - 22, 2004.

FAD Barcelona, Spain, December 16, 2004 - January 10, 2005 (With the help of Alea Gallery in Barcelona.)

The Barents Spectacle Kirkenes, Norway, January 31 to February 6, 2005

Velvet da Vinci Gallery San Francisco, California, November 1-20, 2005

At the opening reception at Electrum Gallery, curators from the British Museum purchased

Mary Frisbee Johnson's (USA) "America in its Big White Hat”

William Clark's (USA) "Operation Enduring Fiefdom"

for their permanent collection.

Curators from the Imperial War Museum in London also purchased the following medals for their permanent collection:

Pierre Cavalan (Australia) untitled
Autumn Dawn Griffiths (USA) untitled
Jennifer Townsend (USA), “War Proliferates”
Polly Wales (UK), “The Wrong Hearts Bleed for War”
Laura Zell (USA), “Peace, like a dove…”

These five pieces went on display at the Imperial War Museum in June in an exhibition entitled "Open Secret" defined as “Something old, something new – redefining the boundaries of the Art Collection.”

Participating artists:
Carmen Amador • Ester Albertí • Alison Antelman • Hratch Babikian • Boris Bally • Brad Bartlett • Rosa Batalla • Brooke Battles • Anna Batlle-Amat • Jesse Bert • Heidi BigKnife • Nancy Blair • Rebecca Blankley • Richard Blue • Heather Blume • Susan Brooks • Douglas Bucci • Emily Bullock • Manel Capdevila • Kepa Carmona • Helen Carnac • Tina Cartledge • Bridget Catchpole • Pierre Cavalan • Ellen Cheek • Norman Cherry • Ingrid Cimmerbeck • William Clark • Tracey Clement • Lori Colina-Lee • Emily Collins • Liavali Coquet • Deborah Corsini • Jennifer Cross-Gans • Paula Cunningham • Scott & Lisa Cylinder • Putte Helene Dal • Ann Davis • Sylvia deMurias • Kristin Diener • Jan Donaldson • Gemma Draper • Drophius • Diana Dudek • Robert Ebendorf • Liisa Eckersberg • Kari Elfstdt • Carmen Esteba • Ana and Lidia Estany • Catalina Estrada • Nicolás Estrada • Marie Fangel • Lisa Fidler • Hilary Finck • Glenna Fleiner • Toni Fuentes • Christian García • Miquel García • Autumn Dawn Griffiths • Lynn Guenther • Monica Guevara • Joan Hammond • Erica Harper • Amy Haskins • Anne Heinz • Britt Hennie Halvorsen • Tom Hill • Leonor Hipolito • Mike Holmes • Joyce Hulbert • Alison Hunt • Xavier Ines Monclus • Elaine Jek • Mary Frisbee Johnson • Masumi Kataoka • Linda Kaye-Moses • Bailey Kivett • Guigui Kohon • Olga Kosica • Francisca Kweitel • Florian Ladstatter • Inger larsen • Ingrid Larssen • Timothy Lazure • Marie Lechat • Ragnhild Lie • Kim Eric Lilot • Yu-Chi Liu • Felix Llorente Zuazu • Shanna LoPresti • Theresa Lovering-Brown • Susanne Lowell • Deborah Lozier • Lene Lunde/Nina Skarra • Marcia Macdonald • Roc Majoral Ballester • Kelly Mann • Rita Marcangelo • Samuel Martinez Saavedra • Ashi Marwaha • Susanne Matsché • Wilhelm Tasso Mattar • Agata Max • Catherine Maymó • Jo McAllister • Judy McCaig • Karen McCreary • Lali Mensa • Ulf Meyn • Anne Michie • Mike & Maaike • Christina Miller • Michelle Milner • Hiroko Miyamoto • Charlene Modena • Taweesak Molsawat • Dick Monshouwer • Valeria Morato • Lucia Moure • Dawn Nakanishi • Suzanne Nayduch • Patty Nelson • Katie Nichols • Kathrin Nitschke • Inger Anne Nyaas • Rita de Oliveira Ruivo • Olle Olls • Anna Onofrio • Susanne Osborn • Kathryn Osgood • Solveig Ovanger • Rebecca Overmann • Hiroko Ozeki • Olvia Papiliou • Ron Pascho • Montserrat Pascual Salat • Catherine Patyk • Leslie Perrino • Jane Petrie • Hilary Pfeifer • Carmen Pintor • Patricia Plá • Ingrid Psuty • Ramon Puig Cuyas • Ana María Ramírez • Bruce Raper • Todd Reed • Susan Remnant • Camille Rendal • Abril Ribera Valiente • Doug Ridgway • Christopher Rizzo • Diana Maria Rossi • Gerhard Rothmann • Annabelle Royo • Carol Salazar • Blanca Sánchez • Haldis Scheicher • Diane Serakos • Carla Shanks • Kristin Mitsu Shiga • Alison Shiboski • Jan Smith • Catherine Stafford • Anita Schmid • Silja Skoglund • Sondi's Studio • Ralf Stautner • Sarah Suloff • Lulu Sylvest • Markus Teipel • Sherry Terao • Eva Tesarik • Vernon Theiss • Jessica Thomas & Stuart Conran • Pamela Thomford • Timothy • Lydia Tjioe • Miyuki Tokunaga • Natàlia Torné • Luis Torres • Jen Townsend • Sarah Troper • Olga Turu Joies • Pilar Val • Clara Vichi • Jeremy Waak • Polly Wales • Maciek Walentowicz • Silvia Walz • Heike Wanner • Jane Wells-Harrison • Jennifer White • Donovan Widmer • C. Greg Wilbur • Jenny Williams • Jennifer Wolfe • Natasha Wozniak • Sally Wright • Yuko Yagisawa • Sayumi Yokouchi • Noël Yovovich • Diana Zeiler • Laura Zell