“One Big Misunderstanding”: Artists, Vietnam War Reenactors and Real Conflict

The exhibition could not have been more aptly titled. One Big Misunderstanding, photographs and video by Austin-based Otis Ike and Ivete Lucas exploring the subculture of Vietnam War reenacters, opened to a large crowd on Saturday night at G Gallery in the Heights. What happened at the opening is the stuff of legend—a polite, refined art crowd gathered in a gallery in an upper middle class neighborhood unknowingly about to witness an epic brawl that was as intriguing as it was unsettling. The ensuing mayhem underscores the very real power of art to engage and provoke. In this case, the audience was quite literally engaged in a way that is rare, even shocking, and the reaction to the work presented became as discussed among the crowd as the art itself. Go to full article