This Nov. 22 marked the 40th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and it seemed to pass by college-aged Americans with minimal hype.
This generation's college students cannot recall where they were when they heard the news; they would not even be born for another 20 years. Today's parents' emotional touchstone has become little more than conspiracy theory trivia for their children.
Hallwall's current exhibit, "Parallax Views: Art and the JFK Assassination," revisits and reexamines the event through three sets of work. Rather than inundate the viewer with an exhaustive retrospective, the exhibit is an attempt to "reflect and punctuate specific viewpoints that have arisen around the subject over the course of many years," according to the exhibit's mission statement.
Though beginning with a frame from the famous Zapruder home movie of the assassination (the only known film that documents the shooting), Wayne Gonzales' paintings focus primarily on the people involved rather than the event itself. Gonzales uses a textured pointillism reminiscent of newspaper photos to present images of Jack Ruby's life as club promoter. The vibrant colors construe Ruby, the man who shot and killed accused Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, as a pop culture icon.
In "Peach Oswald, 2001" the supposed shooter casts a creepy smirk through flowing lines and sickly color. The psychological portrait makes the viewer cringe without using blood or gore.
"Tumbling Bullet Theory, 2001" has a similar absence of blood in its formulaic diagram of the murder. It is subtly reminiscent of the humanity that gets forgotten among the speculation of angles and trajectories.
In his installation "L.H.O.," Buffalo native Eric M. Jensen creates the bedroom of a person fanatically obsessed with Oswald. The infamous face blankets the room in pictures, t-shirts, paintings and other strange memorabilia. The piece recalls a serial killer's bedroom as revealed towards the end of countless psychological thriller films.
A fan positioned in the corner and images fluttering rapidly across the television give the room a sense of activity. While the puzzle sitting on the bed suggests the fascination is a game, the machete on the desktop hints at the possibility of grim repercussions.
"The Eternal Frame, 1975," a film produced by Ant Farm & T.R. Uthco, presents an on-site reenactment of the shooting, speeches by a fictional Kennedy, and the thoughts of the actors and crew involved.
While interesting for its combination of realistic footage with ridiculous details (Jackie-O is played by a man in drag), the film is the exhibit's weakest moment. It fails to engage and hold interest the way the first two selections do.
"Parallax Views: Art and the JFK Assassination" runs through Dec. 20. Hallwalls is located in Suite 425 of the Tri-Main Building, 2495 Main St. Admission is free.
