PORTAGE PARK — A new exhibit at the National Veterans Art Museum, 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave., sucks viewers into the experiences of one of the museum's original contributors.
Curators on Friday celebrated the debut of "Vietnam Transformed: The Art of Richard J. Olsen as Symbolic Reality," showcasing 51 original paintings spanning the artist's half-century career as an artist and Vietnam veteran.
The paintings are stark and disorienting, using geometric shapes and ghostly wisps that represent different flashpoints from Olsen's tour as a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. Many of the illustrations feature depictions of the artist's canvas, creating a multi-layered effect that conveys a sense of depth.
"Painting is just an illusion, because it's always been flat," Olsen said of the technique. "So I'm trying to break through that wall, so I can get into the space behind the painting."
Olsen was one of the founding members of the Vietnam Veterans Art Group, which formed in 1982 before reorganizing into the National Veterans Art Museum in 1996.
The free exhibit will be on display at the museum until Aug. 12.