'Off the Beaten Path' is a Must-See at CDC

“Beautiful exhibit, very human.”

“Amazing. Young men need to see this.”

“Very moving. Disturbing, but important — thought-provoking. Thank you.”

These are just some of the early comments visitors have jotted down after viewing “Off The Beaten Path: Violence, Women and Art,” the new multi-media exhibit at the Center for Disease Control. Another visitor wrote that the exhibit “inspires me to create social change.”

The traveling exhibit, in the upper level of the Global Health Odyssey Museum at the CDC, presents the work of 28 contemporary artists (largely women) from 24 countries. A day after viewing “Off the Beaten Path,” the images still haunt.

Accompanying the artwork are stories of beatings and batterings, of rape and mutilation, of incest, shame, nightmares, anger, rage, denial and disgust. All grisly and difficult stuff, yet this exhibit is also beautiful, which makes the overall experience that much more powerful.

“The topic of violence against women is always relevant and timely,” said Louise Shaw, curator of the Global Health Odyssey Museum who secured the exhibit, which is free of charge and continues through September 9. “Just look at the news. Every day there are stories.”

Why might such an exhibit be installed at the CDC?

For one thing, the upper gallery is a lovely, airy space of some 4,500 square feet. But more important: violence is indeed a major health problem and the CDC is committed to stopping it.

The exhibit was organized by Randy Jayne Rosenberg, curator and executive director of the nonprofit group Art Works for Change, based in Oakland, Calif.

In notes prepared for the exhibit, Rosenberg gets to the heart of the matter: “The beauty of this project is that it combines the highest integrity of art with important message and storytelling.”

The intent is that “this show can push the door open a little wider and, in the process, shed new light on an old problem as we begin to forge a new journey — of the beaten path.”

"Off the Beaten Path"  is divided into five sections: violence against women as it relates to the individual, to the family, to the community, to a culture, and to politics. While much of the artwork on display — from small drawings to giant paintings, fabrics and murals, and several video presentations — some of the works relate to gender roles and identity.

The artists represented hail from places all over the globe: France, Korea, Iceland, Nigeria, Palestine, Norway, Mexico, the USA, and more.

A familiar artist originally from Japan is represented here as well: Yoko Ono.

Her work is a video presentation of  “Cut Piece,” a performance work that she staged both in 1965 (about 9 minutes are shown here), and again in 2003 (about 45 minutes, if you were to watch in its entirety). In both, Ono sits, fairly still and without much expression, while members of an unseen audience come up to her and with scissors snip away at her clothing. At one moment in the 2003 version (that took place in New York), one man takes his time slicing the front of Ono’s slip and then its straps. As he does that, Ono slowly crosses her arms to cover her breasts.

“This is very powerful,” said Linda Kirk, a public health adviser at the CDC who had learned about “Beaten Path” and took a break from her desk to walk through the show. “I knew Yoko’s stuff would be over the edge, but this really does make a strong statement. “I think she’s telling us that when people violate you, they take a part of you away with them. This is what domestic violence is. It slowly strips away at you.”  And by staging  the same performance almost 40 years later, Kirk thought Ono’s message was “that nothing has really changed.”

Another deeply compelling image (among so many) is a series of 25 large silver gelatin prints that are arranged to form one huge work. The title itself is long and unusual: “Hidden in the Radiant Green, a Man Waits. In Hate-Blinded Hands, Darkness Waits.” That title is also the last line in the book “Working With Available Light” by Jamie Kalven. The book describes the far-reaching effect of his wife’s 1988 rape and beating in broad daylight. His wife, Patricia Evans, is the artist-photographer.

“Off The Beaten Path: Violence, Women and Art,” 9am-5pm Monday-Friday through Sept. 9 (with extended hours until 7pm on Thursday), at Global Health Odyssey Museum at the CDC, 1600 Clifton Road, NE at CDC Parkway, Atlanta, 30333; 404-639-0830, www.cdc.gov/museum. Virtual tour: www.artworksforchange.org/otbo_virtual.htm. The exhibit is free and no reservations are required unless you wish to schedule a special tour. Because this is the CDC, driver’s license or passport is required for entry, as is a vehicle inspection upon entrance. Louise Shaw advises all to think of the brief vehicle check “as part of your CDC experience.