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By Peter Kougias
Hometown Weekly Intern
Hidden above Main Street, The Zullo Gallery is a quaint space featuring a powerful exhibit this summer.
The Mass Art Provocation is a display of artwork from fourteen seniors that focus on important issues of the day. The class instructor, Irena Roman, and gallery director William Pope collaborated for this insightful and powerful exposition.
Kathleen O’Hara’s “Joan” is the face of the exhibition. Perched on a horse, we see Joan raising a flag in the eye of an uplifting storm. “ I celebrate and immortalize women that have touched my life by showing them in armor,” O’Hara stated. Her work “represents the future. Their ideas and perceptions will soon influence politics and history.”
The Provocation’s themes of the current political climate linger throughout the art. Gun control is a popular motif. Skarlet Prittie’s prints displayed four guns splashed against the iconic American flag. They are titled “Freedom,” “Gluttony,” “Revolution,” and “Greed.” In her statement, Prittie says: “When the second amendment was introduced in 1792 our guns were simple and and something necessary. Today they are built to do far more damage than we can ever imagine. Our guns have changed, why haven’t our laws?”
Student Derek Heldenburgh focuses on the division in media and narrative. “The media spins things both ways,” he says. He also mentions the great divide in this country and how people put one another in boxes.
The Mass Art Provocation will run at the Zullo Gallery in Medfield from July 6 to August 26. The Gallery is open 12-5 on Saturdays and Sundays. On Thursdays in July and August, the gallery and rooftop deck are open from 6-10 p.m.
