Fran Bull’s installation “In Flanders Fields” is making its third appearance in the Rutland area: this time at the Chaffee Art Center. The large multifaceted congregation of works by the Brandon artist is stunning in the Chaffee’s fine old mansion. The stark white plaster, the red poppies, and the printed silk panels all work in contrast with the formality of the mansion to reveal the beauty of both Bull’s work and the space.
Her monumental piece is inspired by the beginning words of the World War I poem written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrea commemorating the sacrifices of the war dead buried beneath the fields of poppies in Flanders. Bull’s meditation on the futility of war takes form in sculpture, poetry and printmaking--all the media coming together to express a narrative of tragic continuity: the human need to resolve disagreement with violence.
The first images of McCrea’s poem are heroic, describing the poppies blooming over the buried dead and larks flying overhead. However, Bull writes that she “takes issue with the poet, and with his assumption of the rightness of retribution and the implied glory of ‘winning.’ May we come to understand,” she writes, “that the unrestrained mortification of human flesh known as War is a profound violation of all that we are on this Earth.”
With this installation, Bull reminds all who enter her space that the earth will bloom and larks will fly, despite human activities that defile the sanctity of creation. The piece is silent, stark and tragic.
McCrea wrote, “In Flanders fields the poppies blow between the crosses row on row.” Bull’s response is the wall of the dead, a vertical display of white sculpted faces of the killed, presented in relief, row on row. Juxtaposed with the ghostly faces, a wall of red poppies blooms in startling red: the color of poppies, the color of blood.
The images of poppies, which are a code for remembering the dead, are everywhere in this multifaceted work of art. Bright, blooming flowers waved over the dead in Flanders fields; and so it is in Bull’s art: glorious poppies, both sculpted and drawn, bloom here, indifferent to the dead.
“And in the sky, the larks still bravely singing, fly.” Bull’s response? The ceilings of the Chaffee are obscured by throngs of sculpted larks and the walls hung heartbreaking prints of wings in motion. Bull transforms McCrea’s brave symbols into tangible beauty.
The piece also includes eighteen sculpted busts of imagined women from Aristophanes’ play “Lysastrata.” Lysistrata and her circle of women withheld sexual favors until their men would negotiate peace. Here, the women of Aristophanes’ ancient play stare. No matter where you are, one of them will gaze at you out of the past, judging that nothing much has changed after all these years.
Even if you’ve seen Fran Bull’s “In Flanders Fields” before, you’ve never seen it like this. It’s an important work, her self-described “silent scream” against war making, and it’s worth another look. If you’ve not yet seen the installation yet, be prepared for the silent, though resounding, impact of real art.
Talk with Fran Bull at the artist reception at the Chaffee Art Center on Friday, June 17, 5-7 pm.
DETAILS:
Exhibit:
In Flanders Fields
Artist:
Fran Bull
Venue:
Chaffee Art Center
165 Main Street
Rutland, VT 05701
Reception:
Friday, June 17, 5-7 pm
Gallery Hours:
Wed – Fri, 11 am - 5 pm
Sat, 10 am – 3 pm
