Thursday, March 29, 2007 Older Editions

Chair drawings are political

Artist Bill Flynn stripped down an elegant antique armchair and began drawing an abstract, graceful still life with hard and soft edges, reflecting the flowing curves of the Victorian era. Then the world intervened. It was October 2004, the country was at war, and the announcement came down that no weapons of mass destruction (WMD) had been found in Iraq.

Flynn was unnerved, and in his mind his peaceful project began to transform itself.

Rather than picking up banners and marching against war, he said, he began to weave his thoughts and his anger into drawings of the chair. "It became a metaphor for political power - the polished exterior, the wounded skeletal interior," Flynn explained. "The WMD announcement inspired me to speak out in a visual way," he said last week, as he stood before 160 of the more than 250 drawings that have exploded from his mind in the last two years.

Each is different, singular, and powerful. Together they map a transformation in his thinking about the conflict. He named his exhibit "Armed Chair: From Observation to Metaphor" and it was recently installed in Phillip Academy's Gelb Gallery. The gallery is located in the connection between the Elson Art Center and George Washington Hall, across from the Andover Inn on Chapel Avenue.

Flynn explained that the drawings correspond to events in the troubled evolution of the United States' involvement in Iraq: the president's "Mission Accomplished" press conference; the bombing of Baghdad; Abu Ghraib; the mounting death and horrendous injury tolls; and now, the "surge."

They are charcoal, pastel, and red crayon drawings on paper, 28 by 22 inches. They cover the gallery walls, from ceiling to floor, nearly overwhelming their muse - the stripped armchair itself - which is a part of the exhibit.

Flynn's work is currently on view through April 30. An artist's reception will be held this Saturday, March 31 from 3 to 5 p.m.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 9 p.m. on Sunday. The gallery is closed on Easter and Patriots' Day.

Flynn said the process of creating the body of work "took on a life of its own" as he created ever more drawings as the war wore on. In fact, he's still drawing the chair. "I don't know where it will end," he admitted. He was constantly struck by the fact that "the imagination that drawing inspires is a significant part of the creative process."

Therese Zemlin, instructor in art at Phillips Academy, organized the exhibit. She described it as "a stunning visual experience."

She says the series of drawings is a valuable teaching tool that demonstrates the extent to which good art "takes time, practice, discipline, and tenacity."

Flynn is a longtime faculty member at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, where he teaches a variety of drawing classes.

He is also a graduate of the school. He has exhibited in Boston and New York, and is currently represented by the Victoria Munroe Gallery of Boston.