John Douglas

John Douglas Frontal nudity and automatic rifles might be the most jarring sights in the John Douglas retrospective, titled “A Life Well Lived,” at Karma Bird House in Burlington. But among the 34 photographs and posters created by the late Burlington artist and activist, other images might — and should — provoke deep alarm about human destiny. Even if they look beautiful. Douglas, who died in January at age 83, “was a force for good,” said Mark Waskow, who curated the exhibition under the aegis of the nascent Northern New England Museum of Contemporary Art. It’s composed of Waskow’s considerable art collection housed in multiple sites in Burlington and Barre. A stint in the U.S. Army in the early 1960s fueled Douglas’ lifelong political and social activism and fierce opposition to oppression of any kind. His films for New York City-based documentary collective Newsreel chronicled civil unrest and military action. Douglas moved to Vermont in the mid-’60s, part of a wave of young ex-urbanites seeking communal life in the agrarian state. He never turned down the volume on his passion for social justice, a stance abetted by his height and deep, booming voice. Following earlier formal training in art, including painting, Douglas eventually turned to computer animation and digital photography. Images from his series about impending environmental disaster and homeland security make up the bulk of the Karma Bird House exhibition. In the latter series, Douglas replicated himself, butt naked and hoisting an M16 rifle, in a variety of settings. Though the topic is dead serious, Douglas’ irrepressible sense of humor peers through, such as in a tableau with a Holstein. “The magic is twofold to me: the beauty in the work and what the work is actually saying,” Waskow said. “The beauty is very disarming, while telling horror stories about the world. It’s that dynamic, the yin and yang, that makes people understand what the problems are and what solutions could be.”