Peter Schumann artwork on display at the Highland Center

From now through May 28, Peter Schumann’s Post-Apocalyptic Woodcuts for the 3/4 Empire will be exhibited at the Highland Center for the Arts. There will be a special event on Sunday, May 20, at 3 p.m., to celebrate the work, including an artist’s talk, music, and performances by Peter Schumann and company. Per Bread and Puppet tradition, bread and aioli will be served; and cheap art, Bread and Puppet Press publications, and exhibit banners will be for sale.

As minister of Christian congregations in Asia Minor, the apostle John wrote “The Apocalypse” in response to the Romans’ brutal persecution of those belonging to the Christian faith. The visions he outlined of divine justice and revenge inspired numerous Middle Ages artists, and Albrecht Dürer was assuredly acquainted with several Flemish and German examples. Dürer’s 1495 apocalypse woodcuts are passionate portrayals of slaughter and supernatural mayhem, likely in response to the equally horrible contemporary atrocities committed by the Church and aristocracy against peasant uprisings in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 
Inspired by Dürer’s series, Mr. Schumann cut his Post-Apocalyptic Woodcuts for the 3/4 Empire in the early months of 2017, addressing, “the brand new horror of our own empire boss’s threat to eliminate whole countries for non-compliance with empire politics.” Lila Winstead added assemblages of carved words, from the Bread and Puppet print shop archives, and printed them on large muslin fabric. The text within the images is from the cantastoria of the same title. 
The Gallery at the Highland Center for the Arts is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. — from the Highland Center for the Arts.