Untitled #39 (265)

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Born and raised in Akron, Josh Azzarella is an artist who works with historical photographs and videos, often removing or abstracting key parts of the narrative. The effect are images that are purposely incomplete and often unsettling. Untitled #39 (265) depicts the May 4 massacre, also known as the Kent State shootings, which took place on May 4, 1970 during a rally opposing the expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia and the presence of the National Guard on campus. Ohio National Guard soldiers fired shots at unarmed students, many of whom weren’t involved in the actual protest, resulting in 4 deaths and 9 seriously wounded. Student photographer John Filo captured this image of the event, which depicts Mary Ann Vecchio (age 14) kneeling over the body of Jeffrey Miller (age 20). Miller was 265 feet away from the officers (which the artist references in the title of the piece) and had not been involved in any protests, and was fatally shot by the Ohio National Guard while walking outside on campus. Filo’s photograph won a Pulitzer Prize and is the best-known image of this event in particular and one of the more enduring pictures of the wider anti-Vietnam movement in general. Azzarella’s photograph has removed both Vecchio and Miller, leaving a large gap for those who know the original image. The artist seems to be encouraging the viewer to make their own meaning between what is removed and what is left.

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