Photo courtesy of Allene Abrahamian

Graphic design professor Jim Thorpe describes his young self as a “military brat.” Moving around European bases with his family, he learned to appreciate the art surrounding him.

“Poster design in Europe is a great art form,” he said. “I used to steal posters from the German railway stations.”

And though he developed an interest in the military, he said he wouldn’t have gone to Vietnam had he been drafted.

“I study military history as a hobby, but I’m definitely anti-war,” he said.

Thorpe’s opinions are not disguised in his new exhibit at The Art Gallery in the Art-Sociology Building. “Questioning the Bomb, History and Non-Proliferation,” which opened Wednesday, gave 80 artists from around the world the chance to present a unified stance on the dangers of atomic weaponry. The exhibit commemorates the 70th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, during World War II.

“We have become very numb to what these weapons are,” Thorpe said. “These weapons are so powerful that we could literally incinerate the entire planet.”

The exhibit features four Iranian artists, who Thorpe said might face retaliation for sending their work.

The posters are varied. Some are hand-drawn; others make use of cut paper, lithography, computer graphics or photography. Many use a combination of materials.

Kelsey Marotta was impressed with the coherence of the collection despite the variety of media and the number of designers working remotely. Her own piece, “BOOM,” features bold letters on top of a decayed-looking, orange background.

“I think it’s really amazing how they all relate to one another even though everyone was given their own challenge,” the recent alumna said.

Many of the posters seem to be heavily influenced by pop art, something freshman Charlie Youngmann, who is enrolled in letters and sciences, said he was surprised to see done tastefully. 

“I think nuclear war is something no one wants, and to make a cultural movement against it is at least a step in the right direction,” he said.

That’s just the type of message Thorpe wants to convey.

“You’d be amazed how many students have never seen an actual detonation of an atomic or hydrogen bomb,” he said.

That’s why his exhibit includes two documentaries that show the power of the weapons and the aftermath of their use in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

An artist from London used his own blood to create a swirling, red, explosion-like shape.

Elizabeth Resnick, a professor at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, said she knew she had to participate in the exhibit after helping Thorpe curate it.

“The writing was on the wall,” she said. “I had to make one.” 

She used a photograph of weeds covered with snow outside her studio window to pay homage to the Children’s Peace Monument in Hiroshima.

She found inspiration in her son’s love for the story of Sadako Sasaki, who believed if she made 1,000 paper cranes, she would be cured of her leukemia caused by the bomb.

“My son was really taken with it,” she said. “He made 1,000 cranes; they’re still in the closet.”

Questioning the Bomb runs in the Maryland Art Gallery through Oct. 23.