Invasion 68 Prague, an exhibition of work by photographer Josef Koudelka, opened yesterday at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center. The exhibition will run until December 28, 2008.
The exhibition features Koudelka’s singular photographic account of the week after August 21, 1968, when Warsaw Pact tanks led by Alexander Dubcek invaded communist Prague. Both moving and formally compelling, Koudelka’s photographs provide an unparalleled representation of the life and death of that week. New York Times art critic, Roberta Smith writes:
“None of these photographs are less than beautiful; some combination of emotional urgency and Mr. Koudelka’s instinctive artistry makes them so. His restless vigilance created a historic and historical document that is less a series of photographs than a slow-moving film that we absorb one still at a time. He was there, and to an extraordinary and anguishing degree, so are we.” (Full article)
Koudelka’s photographs that week represented a turning point in his life. After their anonymous publication in Western newspapers, Koudelka sought asylum, and eventually emigrated from Prague in 1970. He has worked since then in Western Europe as a highly regarded documentary and landscape photographer. His books include: Gypsies (1975), Exiles (1984), and Chaos (1999). A recent retrospective of his work, Koudelka, was published in 2006.
The exhibition at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center has been co-produced by Magnum Photos, and coincides with a book by the same title published by Aperture. A “Meet The Artist” reception will be held on Tuesday, November, 18 from 6-8PM; Czech Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra and Ambassador of the Czech Republic Petr Kolár will also be present.
The gallery is open from 11-4PM, Tuesday through Sunday.
Soldier Billboard Project: Discussion
October 31st, 2008 by SB
Soldier’s Face, a collaboration between Suzanne Opton and curator Susan Reynolds, has displayed the artist’s photographs on billboards in select cities around the United States in the lead up to the election. The billboards gained national attention when CBS Outdoor refused to post a billboard scheduled to coincide with the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, MN.
Opton has certainly generated a conversation. Here are a few of the comments on the project’s website:
“Wonderful against the sky, our soldiers with their heads on the line and our nation with its head in the sand. How can they deny you? Thank you for such a timely reminder.” -Jean
“I’m glad that these were taken down. They speak to none of the dignity that goes in serving ones country, they just address the DEATH that one might face by choosing the service. WE NEED FIGHTERS! Not art.” -Roy Alexander
“These photographs of our soldiers represent the freedom that our country stands for, and that includes the freedom, dignity and honor to have their faces and names shown. This project should be applauded no matter where you stand on the war.” -Brent
“I think the photos/billboards were brilliant. The photos humanize the soldiers, and it may help people who the billboards to understand that the soldiers who are fighting in Iraq aren’t necessarily good or evil.” -Jenny
“At first glance I thought it was an ad and I tried to figure out what they were selling. The more I passed by I began to see more and more detail and was taken back about how real these people were no airbrushed on/off flaws… In a way we are all like those soldiers regardless of what the backdrop might be.” - Natalie
“I’ll admit that I am not that “in to” art, but I did immediately take offense to this billboard. I can appreciate the goal however this young man is still alive. As the sister-in-law of a fallen soldier the billboard was hard to swallow. I don’t need a billboard to remember him and the sacrifice he made every day.” - Allison
“Wow, as a newly enlisted service member, this art is seriously inspiring to me. These faces reflect the raw, un-hyped, true reality many soldiers are facing. To me these faces reflect a weary, numb, weathered sense of being from the lifestyle they live in the center of our nations conflicts. Somebody has to do it.” -Nick
“The images on your billboards seem to be doing an excellent job of getting people to participate in that all to lost art of thinking. Now maybe some people will attempt to consider whether their thinking is actually patriotic or nationalistic.” –Michael Cabrera
Here is a short video of Suzanne’s talk at American University Museum:
Meaningful Media: Art, Music, Film and Design in the 2008 Election
October 31st, 2008 by SB
Meaningful Media, a new nonprofit network committed to increasing the quality, visibility, and impact of social issue media, has recently produced a great article on the role played by art and design in the current U.S. electoral season. The article highlights the work and impact of musicians, museums, artists, designers, and filmmakers throughout the presidential election. Written by Elise Wagner of Meaningful Media, the article contains links to artist projects, film and musician websites, as well as detailed information on the two major party candidates’ positions on arts policy. Check out the article here.
Add-Art: Artist creates online photography exhibition
October 30th, 2008 by SB
Last Friday, artist Jon Winet launched a two-week-long online exhibition of his documentary photographs through the Fire-Fox plug-in, Add-Art. The free plug-in, available here, allows users to view art in place of advertising when surfing the web.
In this exhibition, Winet displays photographic work from his year-long hybrid new media art / journalism venture, The Electoral College. Throughout this innovative project, Winet has explored the 2008 U.S. presidential election and democratic practice.
The images displayed in the Add-Art exhibition were cropped to standard web-advertising dimensions that seamlessly integrate with web-viewing. They were compiled during a 17-day trip Winet took with Alan Spore that followed the Democratic and Republican Party national conventions. The resulting images yield a documentary depiction of the conventions and offer a glimpse beyond the lens of the mainstream mass media into the actual emotions, spaces and experiences Winet and Spore observed. The exhibition on Add-Art is designed to coincide with the November 4th election, so the images replacing the ads may appear integral with mainstream coverage of the elections.
To view more images from the exhibition, download the plug-in, or view his eight themed groups of photographs here. To see more of Jon Winet’s work, check out his YouTube channel, or visit The Electoral College website.
Artists stage melt down of economy at Foley Square in Lower Manhattan
October 23rd, 2008 by pl
Marking the 79th anniversary of the stock market crash that caused the Great Depression, artist collaborators Ligorano/Reese will stage a literal meltdown of the economy on October 29, 2008. In a new, time-based art installation, called “Main Street Meltdown,” the artists will install a five foot tall, 15 foot wide ice sculpture of the word “ECONOMY” at Foley Square in Lower Manhattan, across from the New York State Supreme Court building, close to the heart of the U.S. financial district.
“With the recent turmoil in the financial markets and anxiety creeping through the country from Main Street to Wall Street, this sculpture metaphorically captures the results of unregulated markets on the U.S. economy. To see the word “economy” melting down is representational of our extreme time,” said collaborator Nora Ligorano.
Weighing almost 1,500 pounds, “Main Street Meltdown” is the fourth in a series of ice sculptures by the artists addressing important political issues of our time. The artists will interview bypassers onsite about the economy and create time-lapse photographs and films.
Mainstreet Meltdown is part of BrushFire, a national public art series organized by Provisions Library with support from the CrossCurrents Foundation.
The Craft of Politics
October 3rd, 2008 by pl
The Craft of Politics, Megan Van Wagoner, Hilary Doyle, Xiang Yang, Jennifer Marsh, and Jennifer Drinkwater, November 4 - 30, 2008 in the Main Gallery at the Montpelier Arts Center 9652 Muirkirk Road, Laurel MD 20708
Curated by Montpelier instructor, Elizabeth Crisman, this exhibition features artists who work with traditional craft materials to create works of social commentary. There will be a gallery talk by the artists Jennifer Marsh and Megan Van Wagoner during the opening reception on Friday, November 7.
Reception And Gallery Talk, Friday, November 7, 7-9 pm
Exchange Rate: 2008, an election themed art project
September 30th, 2008 by pl
On November 4th, just in time for the Presidential Election, Exchange Rate: 2008 will be presenting a night of performances and live election coverage at Remy’s on Temple, 2126 W. Temple St. Los Angeles, CA from 7-10pm.
The project involves thirty-eight artists from sixteen different countries who are creating, exchanging and interpreting performance directions in response to the 2008 US presidential election. These performances are taking place in cities all over the globe including Los Angeles, New York City, Quito and Seoul to name a few. Audiences everywhere can experience these projects via the website. Check it out at www.exchangerate2008.com.
This project is 
created by artist Elana Mann and sponsored by Trade&Row.
Artists and the Election
September 26th, 2008 by Niels
Image: Dara Greenwald, What is Capitalism?, 2006
Join filmmakers Emily Kunstler, Dara Greenwald, Brian Spinks, and Shelly Silver for a night of screenings, argument, and conversation, moderated by artist Mary Billyou.
Wednesday Oct 1, 6:30 to 8:30 PM, Art in General.
OUT NOW!
September 26th, 2008 by Niels
Image: Martha Rosler, Point and Shoot, 2008
Currently at e-flux: OUT NOW! - an exhibition on the occupation of Iraq organized by artist Anton Vidokle:
The questions involved in mounting a political art exhibition are extremely complex. In the past I’ve been skeptical of such direct forms of political expression, primarily due to the instrumentalizing effect they have on artistic production. And yet I have been extremely disconcerted by the near total lack of involvement or discussion of this subject by art institutions here in the only country capable of ending the occupation of Iraq.
Having spoken at length with a group of artists about this radical separation between the political reality of this place and its cultural reality, we decided to present OUT NOW! – a project which is less of a curated exhibition than an attempt to explore possibilities for a sympathetic cultural backdrop for urgent action and discussion toward ending this war.
Artists include Friends of William Blake, Patrick Cockburn, Kathy Kelly, Trevor Paglen, Martha Rosler, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Jalal Toufic. Accompanied with a lecture program at The Cooper Union.
Here for more information.
Got a Spare Fundred?
September 23rd, 2008 by pl
Visionary environmental artist Mel Chin plans to rid New Orleans of lethal levels of lead contained in its soil and he’ll finance it using “Fundred Dollar” bills drawn by children all around the United States. A special vegetable oil-powered armored truck will gather the bills and deliver them to Congress next year in a special ceremony.
Download the drawing instructions and read more about the project, which formally launches at the end of October.
which will gathered and delivered to Congress next year
Signs of Change Exhibition and Symposium
September 23rd, 2008 by pl
Signs of Change: Social Movement Cultures 1960’s to Nows, is an exhibition at Exit Art in NYC featuring hundreds of posters, photographs, moving images, audio clips, and ephemera documenting dozens of international social movements.
Organized thematically, the exhibition presents the creative outpourings of social movements such as those for Civil Rights and Black Power in the United States; democracy in China; anti-apartheid in Africa; squatting in Europe; environmental activism and women’s rights internationally; and the global AIDS crisis, as well as uprisings and protests for indigenous control of lands; against airport construction in Japan; and student and worker revolution in France. The exhibition also explores powerful counter-cultures that evolve beyond traditional politics to create distinct aesthetics, life-styles, and social organizations.
Although histories of political groups and counter-cultures have been written, and political and activist shows have been held, this exhibition is a groundbreaking attempt to chronicle the artistic and cultural production of these movements. Signs of Change offers a chance to see relatively unknown or rarely seen works, and is intended to not only provide a historical framework for contemporary activism, but also to serve as an inspiration for the present and the future.
Ongoing screenprinting workshops with guest artists and activists in collaboration with the Lower East Side Printshop as well as the following programs and events.
The exhibition runs through November 22nd.
This Thursday the 25th there will be a two-panel symposium:
6 pm: Producing and Distributing Social Movement Culture
Panelists include: Judy Ann Seidman/ Artist and Writer (South Africa); Sphinx/Indymedia Africa; illcommonz (Japan), Favianna Rodriguez/Tumis Design (Oakland, CA) and others TBA. Moderated by Gregory Sholette, Assistant Professor Queens College Department of Art, Co-Founder PAD/D & REPOhistory/New York.
8 pm: Assessing the History and Future of Social Movement Culture: A Critical Analysis
Panelists include: Stephen Duncombe/Writer & Professor, NYU; Dee Dee Halleck/Media Activist, Co-founder Deep Dish TV; Sasha Roseneil/Professor of Sociology and Social Theory, Director, Birkbeck Institute for Social Research, Birbeck, University of London (UK), Jose Vasquez/Iraq Veterans Against the War, CUNY Graduate Center and others TBA. Moderated by Kazembe Balagun, Brecht Forum/blogger: blackmanwithalibrary.com (New York, NY).
Update: Creative Time’s Democracy in America
September 23rd, 2008 by pl
Democracy in America, Creative Time’s sprawling show at the New York Armory is on through the 27th. Here’s a review from the NYTimes (login required) and a great interactive audio slide show.
Imagining America Conference in LA
September 22nd, 2008 by pl
Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life is a consortium of colleges and universities focused on strengthening the public role and democratic functions of the humanities, arts, and design.
Their annual national conference takes place next week in Los Angeles at the USC’s Center for Diversity and Democracy.
This year’s conference theme is, Layers of Place, Movements of People: Public Engagement in a Diverse America. The keynote address will be given by Judy Baca co-founder of the Social and Public Art Resource Center and driving force behind Los Angeles’s amazing mural art scene.
Imagining America
October 2-4, 2008 in Los Angeles, CA
Image: World Wall – A Vision of the Future Without Fear, a project of SPARC
Out of the Gallery and into Street
September 22nd, 2008 by pl
Join Rex Weil, curator for the Arlington Arts Center’s current show, Picturing Politics 2008, for a discussion of the relationship between contemporary art and politics, featuring artists in the exhibition and guest panelists:
Kriston Capps, creator of Grammarpolice and writer for Sculpture Magazine, Art in America, and Art Paper
Welmoed Laanstra, public art curator for Arlington County abd independent curator, the Found Sound and Street Scenes public art projects she organized in Washington, DC.
Josh Shannon, professor of contemporary art history and theory at the University of Maryland, College Park. His book, The Disappearance of Objects: New York Art and the Rise of the Postmodern City, 1960, will be published by Yale University Press in Spring, 2009.
Topics: What’s the difference between political expression out in the world and inside the gallery environment? Is political speech in the gallery protected? Does it have teeth, or does it exist simply to be consumed or marginalized? How does contemporary art speak to pop culture and to the media–and vice-versa?
From the Gallery to the Street: Artists Talk Politics, Friday, September 26, 6:30 - 7:30pm
Stay for an after-party from 7:30 to 9:00 and a special screening of the first presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama in the Tiffany Gallery at 9:00.
Image: Placemakers, by Jose Ruiz depicts the Communist sickle and hammer in new light with paint roller and electric drill.
Facing the Democrats 2008
September 18th, 2008 by pl
Fran Dresher, John Lewis, Paul Strauss, Lena Taylor, Jake Smollett, Sarah Ingersoll at the DNC
Photographer John Beebe set up his photo studio in the middle of last month’s Democratic National Convention and churned out a steady stream of large-scale portraits. Over one hundred and thirty people from volunteers to delegates to senior party players to celebrities stepped out of the chaos, put down their Blackberries and cell phones and shared their stories. Some of the names and faces will be recognized – Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis, musician Moby, actors Hill Harper and Kerry Washington, labor leader Jimmy Hoffa, Jr. Others faces will not be recognized but contain their own powerful story – teachers from Detroit, public defenders from West Virginia, hog farmers from Nebraska, retired veterans from Florida. Video footage was shot during the sessions and will be available soon.
See the results here.
Empyrean
September 18th, 2008 by pl
The Library (Baltimore, MD) and Curator’s Office (Washington, DC) joined forces to co-present Empyrean by Cliff Evans, a five-channel HD video projection to be presented on October 17th, 2008 at The Library, an artist-run organization located at 1401 Light Street in Baltimore.
Empyrean is a digital polyptych with photomontage animation that recalls the form of 15thcentury Northern European altarpieces merged with contemporary advertising narratives. Scene after scene of Evans’s five-channel projection has deliberate order and disquieting disorder, creating a loose but provocative narrative around the subjects of power and population control, coded with interesting and often humorous subtexts.
Special Dates to keep in mind:
Opening Reception: Friday, October 17 6 – 10 pm
Another Late Night: Saturday, November 1 6 – 10 pm
Election Day Party: Tuesday, November 4 7 – 11 pm (Proof of voting required to gain entry.)
The Library Gallery Hours: Thursday – Saturday 4 – 8 pm or by appointment
Art of the Campaign Commercial
September 17th, 2008 by pl
The Museum of the Moving Image has an incredible online gallery of political campaign commercials called The Living Room Candidate. It features more than 300 commercials, from every presidential election since 1952, when Madison Avenue advertising executive Rosser Reeves convinced Dwight Eisenhower that short ads played during such popular TV programs as I Love Lucy would reach more voters than any other form of advertising.
Don’t miss President Johnson’s infamous “Daisy Girl” ad, which ran only once during an NBC broadcast of Monday Night at the Movies on September 7, 1964.
The Curator’s Choice is a great place to start getting inspired to vote. Slate magazine’s Chief Political Correspondent John Dickerson, also compiled a playlist here. There’s a great lesson plan for teachers as well.
The Art of Democracy
September 16th, 2008 by pl
Images: Nicolas Lampert, Eric Drooker and Marsha Shaw
The New York Society of Etchers is spearheading an ambitious country-wide series of print exhibitions featuring political graphics. With an amazing 50 exhibitions in the initiative, you’re sure to find one (reasonably) nearby. You can also tour their Virtual Exhibition.
Image: Meghan Sbertoli and Eric Santoy
Nancy Reddin Kienholz at L.A.Louver
September 9th, 2008 by pl
Paved Streets, January 18, 2008
Renowned 1960’s anti-war artist Ed Kienholz met his future wife Nancy Reddin in 1972 and from that point on they worked as artistic collaborators. Ed Kienhholz died in 1994 but Nancy forged on with new works based in the distinctive assemblage style they pioneered together.
Redden’s new exhibition in Los Angeles features politically charged themes using lenticular printing, a process in which images appear to shift when viewed from different angles.
“There are some issues - such as those relating to wars and religion - that just make me crazy. I want to put a lens - literally and figuratively - over the choices we make, and what it means to make these choices.”
L.A. Louver
45 North Venice Boulevard
Venice, CA 90291
Telephone 310-822-4955
War at Santa Monica’s 18th Street Art Center
September 9th, 2008 by pl
The Future of Nations has been this year’s program theme at the 18th Street Art Center in Santa Monica. Their latest effort is War as a Way of Life, curated by Clayton Campbell and featuring artists Susan Crile, Binh Danh, Barry Frydlender, Hometown Baghdad, Marty Horowitz, Cindy Kane, Ronald Lopez, Christina Mcphee, Catherine Opie, Stacy Peralta, David Reeb, Sinan Leong Revell, Daniel Ruanova, Larry Scarpa, Mark Spencer, and Amitis Motevalli.
War as a Way of Life: September 27 - December 19 Reception: Saturday, September 27, 6:00-9pm
18th Street Art Center 1639 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404 Phone 310.453.3711
Note: Closing this weekend is Citizen Artists Making Emphatic Statements, curated by Al Nodal
Art Parade
September 3rd, 2008 by pl
More old-fashioned fun is on the way this weekend as Deitch Projects, Creative Time and Paper Magazine team up for the fourth annual Art Parade. Following the success of the past three Art Parades, they have again invited artists, performers and designers to create floats, balloons, placards, portable sculptures, performances and street spectacles. This year’s parade will include over 900 participants and 90 project by Jim Drain, Barry McGee, Clare Rojas, Beta Tank, Dzine, The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black and Kenny Scharf. Yoko Ono’s offers her signature release of 365 white balloons.
The parade takes place this Saturday, September 06, 2008 at 4pm along West Broadway from Houston to Grand Street in NYC.
Circus (runs) Amok in New York
September 3rd, 2008 by pl
Throughout the month of September, Circus Amok, a New York City based circus-theater company, is providing free public performances addressing contemporary issues of social justice, like police brutality and public education. The merry pranksters will be regaling public park patrons with 17 colorful, message-sending acts on foreclosures and debt, all in 59 minutes. Look out for the rowdy Circus Amok Band, the woman with a beard (not bearded lady!), and acrobatic economists.
For nearly 20 years Circus Amok’s funny, queer, caustic and sexy, political one-ring spectacles have been popping up in diverse neighborhoods from East New York to the East Village. The company is comprised of seven ring-performers, a 7 member live band, 3-roustabouts, and a trucker/technician extraordinaire. The performers in the ring are trained in traditional circus skills - tight rope walking, juggling, acrobatics, stilt walking, clowning - as well as experimental dance, theater, and gender-bending performance art and improvisational techniques.
Circus Amok Schedule Information
Red Lines, Death Vows, Foreclosures, Risk Structures
September 2nd, 2008 by pl
Red Lines, Death Vows, Foreclosures, Risk Structures: Architectures of Finance from the Great Depression to the Sub-Prime Meltdown, is an exhibition organized by designer Damon Rich and the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP). The exhibition explores relationships between finance and buildings through an installation of models, videos, photographs, and drawings.
Red Lines immerses visitors in a landscape of pulsating capital and city buildings. The immense head of a pioneering real-estate appraiser gazes over a field of floor-mounted house portraits. A jagged free-standing graph of the 20th century’s prime rate reflects a flickering neon sign advertising the process of block busting. A paired set of projected videos features interviews with mortgage stakeholders including financiers, anti-foreclosure counselors, and government regulators - and their voices haunt the gallery
The Center for Advanced Visual Studies and the MIT Museum’s Compton Gallery
77 Massachusetts Ave. Room 10 - 150
Cambridge, MA
Opening Reception, September 9, 5:30 p.m.
Exhibition September 10 - December 21, 2008Daily 10am – 5pm
Who Gets What: A Political Show
September 2nd, 2008 by pl
The Franks, PEACE OK ROCK ON, X-ray photos in light boxes
David Weinberg Gallery is presenting Who Gets What: A Political Show, opening Friday
September 5, 2008 from 5-8pm.
This show will act as a catalyst to open dialogue during this politically significant time. Taking on issues of race, stereotypes, war, middle-class culture, consumption and fear, our group of 7 artists, featuring 4 from Chicago, utilize their unique forms of visual communication to transcend polarizing rhetoric in order to expose the relevance of our deeper common concerns.
Artists included are David Opdyke, Lisa Solomon, Sonja Thomsen, Peter and Marilyn Frank; aka, The Franks, and introducing Krista Wortendyke and Michael Ratulowski. There will be an artist talk featuring Wortendyke and Ratulowski along with a curators tour on Saturday October 11 from 11am to noon in conjunction with Chicago Artist Month.
The show runs through October 18, 2008.
David Weinberg Gallery is located at 300 W Superior Street Suite 203, Chicago IL 60654 P:312.529.5090
Banksy Commemorating Katrina with New Orleans Series
September 1st, 2008 by pl
One wouldn’t normally expect to find the world’s most Googled street artist lurking among the ruins of the lower ninth ward in NEW ORLEANS, but that’s just where renegade stencil artist BANKSY has been holed up for the past week, covering the desiccated city with art to commemorate the anniversary of KATRINA, the hurricane that killed 1800 people when it struck the coastal city in 2005.
“Three years after Katrina I wanted to make a statement about the state of the clean-up operation,” he said, attested that the city’s levee wall offered “the best painting surface in the state of Louisiana.” In the art world, timing is everything, and as the anonymous bomber wraped up his project, the city was bracing for the onslaught of Gustav.
Images of 1968 Chicago Riots at Panopticon Gallery
August 31st, 2008 by pl
“Anti-war Protester Confronts National Guardsmen at Grant Park, Chicago, August 28, 1968” © Ron Pownall courtesy of Panopticon Gallery, Boston, MA
The Whole World Was Watching: Images from the 1968 Chicago Riots. Photographs by Ron Pownall
The Whole World Was Watching at Boston’s Panopticon Gallery features dramatic black and white photographs taken by Ron Pownall during the 1968 Chicago Riots. The raw and gritty images immediately transport the viewer to a turbulent time in American history and serve as a striking juxtaposition to the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.
August 21st - October 6th, 2008
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 18th, 5:00pm-7:00pm
Review in the Boston Phoenix.
Protest Harassment in Twin Cities
August 31st, 2008 by plTwo great organizations are providing on-the-street video coverage of the protest actions in Minneapolis, now focusing on widespread police actions against organizers and journalists like Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman:
Another Protest Song
August 31st, 2008 by pl
Artists Angel Nevarez and Valerie Tevere think its time for new protest songs to be sung. With their new website, anotherprotestsong.org, they are inviting artists, songwriters, and musicians to create, upload, listen, and debate new songs of protest as part of a growing audio archive of politically engaged music. The archive will be included in Creative Time’s, Democracy in America: The National Campaign.
Great background on the history of protest music here.
Art Responds to War at University of Maryland
August 31st, 2008 by pl
From Aquila Theater’s production of the Illiad
This fall and next spring The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland will highlight issues at the pulse point of contemporary life: “Art Responds to War,” and “War and Representations of War.” Upcoming programs will include:
Oct. 30: Kronos Quartet performs “Black Angels,” George Crumb’s highly unorthodox, 1970 work inspired by the Vietnam War. Also on the program: “…hold me, neighbor, in this storm…,” the latest work of Serbian composer Aleksandra Vrebalov, co-commissioned by the Clarice Smith Center.
Nov. 2: Kronos Quartet presents “Alternative Radio: Another World is Possible,” weaving together musical performance and discussion about world events in a radio show format, featuring broadcaster/writer David Barsamian and Code Pink co-founder Diane Wilson.
Nov. 6-7: David Dorfman Dance’s multi-media “underground” scrutinizes the boundaries between activism and terrorism and poses the question, “In a violent world, can you fight for peace?” Performances will incorporate community participants in choreographed scenes of protest.Nov. 11-12: Aquila Theatre Company sets “The Iliad,” Homer’s epic poem about the final year of the Trojan War, in WWII Normandy in June 1944. In honor of Veterans’ Day, both performances are offered at a reduced price of $15 to current members of the military and retired veterans.
More information and tickets are available at www.claricesmithcenter.umd.edu or by calling the ticket office at (301) 405-ARTS (2787). The Center is located on Stadium Drive near the intersection of University Boulevard (Route 193) and Stadium Drive in College Park. A parking garage is conveniently located across the street from the Center.
Iraq War Billboard Protest Censored in Minneapolis
August 28th, 2008 by pl
Corporate graffiti-monger CBS Outdoor has refused to post billboards of Suzanne Opton’s portraits of Iraq war soldiers:
…out-of-context (neither in a museum setting or website) the images, as stand-alone highway or city billboards, appear to be deceased soldiers. The presentation in this manner could be perceived as being disrespectful to the men and women in our armed forces. Jodi Senese, Executive Vice President of Marketing, CBS Outdoor
Of course, they are anything but deceased and the project conveys nothing but deep concern and respect for the soldiers- all of whom willingly took part in Opton’s powerful photographic enterprise.
Here for NY Times coverage.
Jon Winet’s Electoral College
August 28th, 2008 by pl
For new media artist Jon Winet and his merry band of artists, writers and technologistas, the electoral process is a just a giant studio for probing the boundries of art and journalism. Jon’s quadrenniel project, The Electoral College, is now in full swing at the Conventions in Denver this week and the Twin Cities next week.
You can tune in to some of Jon’s results-in-progress here, including photographs, short videos, widgets, and blogging about the confluences of politics, media and art.
This is a great opportunity to see behind the mediated scenery and scripted spectacles.
Party Headquarters: Voting is Just the Beginning
August 20th, 2008 by pl
Art critic Eleanor Heartney and perfomance artist Larry Litt are curating Party Headquarters at Pratt Manhatten Gallery. Artworks will examine diverse artists’ opinions about political media, the art of persuasion, the persuasion of art, voting attitudes, and the consequences of democracy. Artists in the show:
Ligorano/Reese
Allan Wexler
Yee Haw IndustriesThe show opens Thursday, September 25, 6-8pm. Free coffee, donuts and political art, through November 4th!
Pratt Manhattan Gallery
144 West 14th Street, 2nd floor
New York, NY 10011
Tuesday-Saturday 11am-6pm
212-647-7778
Citizen Artist: Deborah Faye Lawrence
August 17th, 2008 by pl
Deborah Faye Lawrence’s new masterful collage series will be shown at Seattle’s Catherine Person Gallery. The exhibition, entitled ‘Citizen Artist’, satirically address progressive political concerns. Her flawlessly integrated photographic collages, painted illustrations and reproductions are disruptive, irreverent, passionate and intelligent.
In a new body of work Lawrence explores silhouettes of human figures who respond to one another with nurturance, despite their exposure to and saturation with violence. The silhouettes float on a ground of shredded documents, which include everything from words and images from advertising, popular culture and advertising to the U.S. Constitution and The Bill of Rights.
Lawrence has a great new art book published by Marquand Books entitled ‘Dee Dee Does Utopia‘, available at the gallery.
Exhibition dates: September 4 - 27, 2008
Opening Reception Thursday, September 4, 6-8 pm
Conversation with the Artist, Saturday, September 6, 1 pm
Futurefarmers’ Energy Plans
August 14th, 2008 by pl
Futurefarmer’s Energy Plans landed at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago, Illinois on July 21 and 22. Hosting two building workshops and 4 discussion sessions led by scientists from the University of Chicago, the general public was invited to participate in discussions around energy issues. The questions produced in these small discussion groups were posed to larger groups in the form of a Continuum:
Energy Plans is a part of BrushFire and will be included in Provision’s upcoming exhibition Close Encounters: Facing The Future at the American University Museum, Sept 13 - Oct 26.
Washington Printmakers Gallery
August 13th, 2008 by pl
Date: July 29 – Aug 31, 2008
Location: Washington Printmakers Gallery
1732 Connecticut Ave. NW, 2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20009
About the Exhibit:
COLLATERAL DAMAGED by Ann Johnston-Schuster
The show’s title Collateral Damaged refers to the incalculable and resonating damage incurred by war. In her woodcuts artists Ann Johnston-Schuster endeavors to redefine personal vulnerability, not as a constraint but as a link to our humanity. Her figures are children that have fallen victim to the physical and emotional constraints placed upon them. In a society built upon the precepts of aggression, vulnerability leaves them often isolated and forgotten.
District of Columbia Arts Center
August 13th, 2008 by pl
Date: October 17th- November 16th
Location: District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC)
2438 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
Exhibit Description:
“Suspicious Activities” is a collection of paintings and works on paper exploring the politicization of language during the process of corporate globalization. Instead of accusing the individual of “suspicious activities” the Artists Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter turns a critical gaze on the language of the Bush administration. Her work deals with Katrina, but also other recent government activities like extraordinary rendition and the war on terror.
Touchstone Gallery
August 13th, 2008 by pl
Date: September 10th- October 4th
Location: TOUCHSTONE GALLERY
406 7th St NW 2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20004
www.touchstonegallery.com
Presented by: The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Embassy of Afghanistan
“In Afghanistan” Photographs by Award-winning Dutch photographer Hans Stakelbeek
Hans Stakelbeek documented daily life through photography during his visit to Afghanistan. His photos capture Afghans as they rebuild their lives in the background of their countries spectacular landscape. “In Afghanistan” is a series of 54-high quality professional photographs that reveal the daily lives of Afghan people in vivid color. These photographs were taken during the NATO mission that assisted the Afghan government to bring security and stabilization to the nation. The exhibit was previously shown in Berlin and London. Touchstone Gallery will be the host for this exhibits American opening.
Welcome to BrushFire!
April 25th, 2008 by plBrushFire is your indispensable guide to activist arts and culture heading up to US elections in November, 2008.
During this crucial moment in history, BrushFire will lead you to the best, most stimulating exhibitions, music, film, poetry, and activist happenings all over the country.
BrushFire will help you experience the power of the arts to deepen your awareness, understanding and enjoyment of deep social change– change that reflects your highest aspirations for peace, equity and sustainability.
In this same time period, Provisions is presenting a major series of public art interventions around the country designed to focus attention on key issues such as the Iraq war, immigration, global warming, civil liberties, housing and healthcare. This will culminate in an exhibition called Close Encounters: Reflections on the Future, at the American University Art Museum in September and October, 2008.
Thanks and enjoy!
BrushFire is organized by Provisions Learning Project, a research center for arts and social change in Washington, DC. BrushFire is supported by CrossCurrents Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation, The Community Foundation of Greater Washington, The Cafritz Foundation, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, The Humanities Council of Washington, DC and The Tides Foundation.