ARTS

A two-person exhibition of drawings, paintings and photographs brings Vietnam veterans full circle

BY JOE NOLAN

Oliver Stone’s film Platoon was released in 1987. Platoon is the first of three narrative movies the director made about the conflict, and it stunned audiences who were used to seeing Vietnam war films like John Wayne’s flag-waving The Green Berets and Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo movies. Platoon doesn’t wave flags, and though it depicts fighting and violence it’s much more of a drama than an action film. In fact, one of the things that still makes Platoon unique is that it mostly focuses on soldiers' lives between ambushes and altercations: on friendships, rivalries, revelries and many long hours of drudgery, boredom and loneliness far from home. An art exhibition at Monthaven Arts & Cultural Center in Hendersonville also documents the stories of soldiers in the Vietnam War, but it does so without picturing politics, patriotic pomp, violence and its aftermath. Instead, it’s an exhibition that pictures the hopeful young faces of the young soldiers caught up in the conflict; the joyous, curious and proud expressions of the Vietnamese people; and the beautiful water, sky and mountains of a land that was decimated by conflict only to be restored and renewed by the resourceful and resilient folk who call it home.

Vietnam: 2 Soldiers. 2 Artists. 2 Journeys. Then & Now features photography, drawings and paintings by David Wright and Chuck Creasy. It’s an ambitious display that takes-up all of the gallery rooms on the first floor of the historic 18th century building the center calls home. The display separates the works of the artists into two distinct sections, and includes an ambitious short documentary that informs viewers about Wright and Creasy’s service in Vietnam, and explains how this exhibition came together. Monthaven has even put together an impressive catalog of the show which viewers can take home in exchange for a $20 donation. There is no admission fee for the exhibition.

David Wright arrived in Vietnam in 1964, and spent a year as an advisor with Military Assistance Command Vietnam. In the exhibition video Wright says that he was able to see how the war was playing out from the border between North and South Vietnam all the way down to the Mekong River Delta.

“It opened my eyes to what war really was,” says Wright. “But at the same time it gave me an insight into the people who live in a country at war, which is so different of course to what we’ve experienced in our country.” Wright’s work makes-up the “Then” portion of the exhibition, consisting of drawings, paintings and photographs created during his time in-country. Wright is an exquisite draftsman and the fact that he refers to these drawings of soldiers and civilians as “sketches” only underscores his tremendous technical skill. Wright’s brush and ink works look like illustrations from a graphic novel, and his portraits of smiling villagers, playful babies and his brothers-in-arms give viewers an insight into the experiences that inspired his artistic documenting.

Creasy’s “Now” section of the show includes the vivid watercolor paintings and a small selection of photographs that capture his experience of traveling back to Vietnam with his youngest son and daughter in 2018 — 50 years after he’d first deployed to Vietnam as an artillery forward-observer in 1968. Creasy’s paintings burst with color and look like still frames from animated films about life in contemporary Vietnam. One unique piece is a stylized map of the country complete with gorgeous 10 cent Military Payment Certificate collaged into the composition. Creasy pictures lots of people here as well, but his strongest works in the show capture the natural beauty of the water, mountains and sky of Vietnam in impressionistic washes of color and light.

Monthaven Arts & Cultural Center dedicates one exhibition a year to U.S. military veterans and it also has an arts outreach program which offers creative classes at V.F.W. locations. Vietnam: 2 Soldiers. 2 Artists. 2 Journeys. Then & Now runs through Aug. 29.