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Veteran Creates Art Exhibit Examining How War Is Portrayed Back Home

By Heather Cherone | February 12, 2016 6:20am
 The exhibit by Air Force Veteran Eric J. Garcia titled
The exhibit by Air Force Veteran Eric J. Garcia titled "Operation Mom's Couch" opens Feb. 26.
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National Veterans Art Museum

PORTAGE PARK — A solo exhibit by a retired Air Force veteran designed to explore how war is broadcast to the public will open Feb. 26 at the National Veterans Art Museum, officials said.

The exhibit by Air Force veteran Eric J. Garcia titled "Operation Mom's Couch" seeks to explore how war is "consumed on couches all across the world," organizers said.

The exhibit will open at 6 p.m. Feb. 26 with a reception at the Portage Park museum, 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave. Garcia will deliver the keynote address.

A native of New Mexico, Garcia is an artist in residence at the Hyde Park Art Center. His work, which ranges from hand-printed posters, to published political cartoons and sculptural installations, strives to educate and challenge the viewer, exhibit organizers said.

The exhibit, which also includes three-dimensional objects and mixed media, grapples with questions related to war and its portrayal, starting with Garcia's first memories of images of war, which he saw on his mother's couch as a child.

Garcia juxtaposes the experience of war from his mother's couch with his later experiences in the Air Force, exhibit organizers said.

The center of the exhibit is a piece titled "The War Nest," Garcia said in a statement.

"On my mom's couch is where I watched war shows, read war comics, played war video games and reenacted many war scenes," Garcia said. "This couch was a nest of military propaganda that incubated a future recruit. Let's sit back on that couch and investigate that environment that nurtures us."

The museum is open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. Admission is free. For more information, call 312-326-0270 or go to nvam.org.

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