Crossing the DMZ, Photographer Dennis Darmek
Tuesday March 14th | 5:30P
Transfer Pizzeria Café | 101. W. Mitchell St.
5:30P | Schmooze
6:30P I Announcements
6:34P | Member Spotlight: Brendan Quirk
7:00P I Speaker: Dennis Darmek
Crossing the DMZ with Denny Darmek
CoPA is pleased to welcome Dennis Darmek to discuss the making of his book, Crossing the DMZ.
Crossing the DMZ is a photo book focused on a small group of US Marines, mostly teenagers, who volunteered to fight and ended up with their names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. In a collaboration between past and present, Vietnamese who live where the battles were fought, posed with photos of these Marines. This book takes the form of a personal scrapbook, merging new photographs with military archives, stories, and the emotional terrain of our Vietnam memories. Crossing the DMZ may help us remember those who didn’t return and better understand the people that remain.
Crossing the DMZ is Dennis Darmek’s first book. The project was shaped by his background as a photographer, documentary storyteller and Marine Corps veteran of Vietnam. He began taking the photos in Vietnam in 2017 and returned in 2020, photographing and traveling the areas where the US Marines fought. The book was released to local bookstores in the summer of 2022. Denny gave a talk at Boswell Books that was standing room-only!
Darmek’s media art has been featured in books, magazines, museums and galleries around the world. His work has been exhibited in the Walker Art Center, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), Long Beach Museum of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Madison Art Center, Kohler Art Center, and the Milwaukee Art Museum, among others. Over 25 of his film and video programs have been featured on PBS and screened in numerous film festivals, including the Chicago International Film Festival, London Short Film Festival, German Center for Art Media, World Video Festival of the Hague, and the American Film Institute. Darmek worked in media production at Marquette University for 35 years, retiring in 2017.
Pfc. Eldridge Aigeldinger and Nguyen Duc Thang, Son Tra, Danang Province, Photographer Dennis Darmek
Member Spotlight: Brendan Quirk
CoPA’s Member Spotlight will feature Brendan Quirk, who is having a solo show at Dodge County Center for the Arts. Brendan’s presentation will have musical accompaniment by Khaetiedawne Quirk.
