“FACES”: This oil and gold leaf on linen by artist Phyllis Plattner is from the “Chronicles of War” series, 2014. Two of Plattner’s most recent series are on display at Princeton University’s Bernstein Gallery.

Artist Phyllis Plattner’s two most recent series, “Legends” and “Chronicles of War,” are open at Princeton University’s Bernstein Gallery in Robertson Hall. There will be an opening reception on Friday, February 10 at 6 p.m.

The exhibit, “Gods of War,” will be open to the public through March 2, 2017. The exhibit and reception are free, open to the public, and sponsored by Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

“Legends” and “Chronicles of War” are comprised of large and small panels of gold leaf and oil paint configured in altarpiece formations or as single icons. Both series critique contemporary life and question the progress of civilization.

The iconic small paintings of “Legends” were influenced by Plattner’s experience while living in Chiapas, Mexico; “Chronicles of War” grew out of an extended period of time living in Italy.

“The catalyst for all the paintings is my horror at the ubiquity and inanity of warfare throughout the history of the world,” Plattner said. “These paintings remind us that all cultures have made art depicting and glorifying their wars. Not until Goya did the depictions of the madness of war appear.”

Plattner’s images are sourced from both art history and photojournalism, from sections of Picasso’s “Guernica” to an iconic photograph of an abused, hooded Abu Ghraib prisoner. Her juxtapositions also include bucolic landscapes of peace and serenity that throw into relief even further the devastating scenes of man’s inhumanity to man.

Plattner has exhibited her work in museums and galleries throughout the United States and abroad, including in New York; Chicago; Baltimore; Washington, D.C.; St. Louis; Santa Fe; and Los Angeles, as well as in France, Italy, and Nepal. Her grants and honors include a National Endowment for the Arts/Mid-Atlantic Fellowship, several Maryland State Arts Council grants and many faculty development grants from the schools at which she has taught. Since 1987, Plattner has been a professor of art at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

The Woodrow Wilson School’s Bernstein Gallery is located in Robertson Hall’s Bernstein Lobby, which memorializes Marver Bernstein, the School’s first dean, and his wife, Sheva. The gallery is free and open to the public. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For appointments on weekends, contact Kate Somers at (609) 497-2441.

———