About This Item

  • TitleA look at the past and a peek into the future.
  • Call NumberVETS_0034
  • Cite AsNew York Harbor Hospital Creative Arts Program Collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
  • SummaryCollage, 23 x 25 inches, depicting soldiers in war, and in civilian pursuits. Artwork created in New York Harbor Hospital Creative Arts Program, led by Beryl Brenner. Project: Visions of vets, 2009, referencing the theme: Who is an American veteran? Artwork was displayed at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Vietnam Era Museum and Education Center. Exhibition label: A look at the past and a peek into the future by Hubert Rodgers. Mr. Rodgers' work is one that concerns it’s self with the continuity of his life and the need to move on regardless of whatever his past experiences were. He juxtaposes pictures of Vietnam and his “veteran self” alongside of a picture of his “civilian self.” The “veteran self” has 3 heads indicating that despite the attempt of outsiders to portray military people as single dimensional, these folks are more complex than that which meets the eye. Mr. Rodgers states “I am diversified and I function on many levels.” Veterans are not merely stereotypes! The picture says “When you’re in for the fight of your life, turn to fellow veterans” because oftentimes these are the only other people that will truly understand what a veteran goes through. His “civilian self” engages in normalcy by playing a game of basketball in just the way anyone would do whether they are military or civilian. He states “I served and I have a life outside of this experience.” Once again indicating to the viewer that they don’t really know the soldier; they just think that they do. By engaging in such normalcy, we learn that the soldier could be anybody.
  • Date2008
  • Formatstill image
  • Physical Description1 image file : digital, JPG, color
  • Genrecollages (visual works)
  • NoteTitle supplied by creator.
  • CreatorRodgers, Hubert
  • SubjectVietnam War, 1961-1975--Veterans--United States ; Vietnam War, 1961-1975 ; Veterans--United States
  • CollectionVeterans Creative Arts Program collection
  • PlaceBrooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
  • RightsCopyright restrictions apply to the use of this work. For more information or to obtain a reproduction of this work, contact the Center for Brooklyn History at Brooklyn Public Library.
  • Copyright OwnerNew York Harbor Hospital Creative Arts Program