The Lied Performing Arts Center presents art exhibits created by students or faculty about once a month throughout the year.
This month features an exhibit entitled “Hannibal”-a collection of elaborately crafted helmets and three drawings. The artist, Littleton Alston, based his exhibit on the Carthaginian warrior and military commander, Hannibal Barca, born in 247 B.C.
“The interest of Hannibal gelled when I was on sabbatical in Italy. The inspiration and process came from the drawings, the research, and also the time to really work in the studio in Umbria, and then from my studio window I could see the old Hannibal road where he traveled with his elephants; that all kind of connected together,” Alston said.
When experiencing the exposé, a great amount of depth is found in these large pieces of art. They initially reflect the status of Hannibal himself and depict the massive influence he had, but it takes a much closer look and some mental pushing to realize some of the aspects Alston conveys through his works.
“The helmets represent a cultural awareness. They allow the viewer to entertain questions of life, love, and existence,” he said.
Jess Benjamin, one of the gallery co-directors, had a lot of insight about the perspective the exhibit brings.
“Physically speaking, this is the first three-dimensional show the gallery has had. Littleton’s show has all been on objects, which command a different sort of power,” she said. “It’s not about what’s on the wall, it’s about what’s in the space. His work is so dramatic and has so much energy-it has some rawness about it.”
That perspective of the expo is one that Benjamin sees, but when it comes down to it, her favorite part of the whole exhibit is actually something a little unexpected.
“I love watching the people take the work in. The objects in the helmets, in the gallery are very strong, commanding, aggressive, and watching people not even care,” she said. “And that’s our job as artists-to get reactions from the audience and evoke reaction. It’s all up to interpretation, and what these helmets really present.”
To Littleton, the outside factors involving his inspiration are dramatically different. Careful consideration of timing, planning, social awareness, and other things greatly affected his decision for displaying his exhibit during Black History Month.
“I’m an African American person so for me to represent my work during this month [Black History Month] is important so the relevance to that language is important. Hannibal himself is an interesting figure and his life is lead open to interpretation,” Alston said. “So I put my ideas forward in February to focus on contributions to African Americans to societies and Hannibal’s relevance to all cultures.”
You can read all you want about it, but the only way to experience Alston’s pieces, find each secret and nuance of them, and to gain your own perspectives, is to see them for yourselves.