Curatorial Statement
Artists Exhibition Checklist
Gallery Location/Directions
Acknowledgements
Curatorial Statement
Bridget Batch - Petrol Más Fina (Houston, TX) - Detail
The artists of Critical Consumption comprise a range of attitudes, but all share a vital stake in questioning and deconstructing the politics of consumerism.
Some artists engage the look of consumer culture. Focusing on the graphic iconography of corporate logos, Heidi Cody's Fast Pitch challenges their prevalence and our recognition of them. Bridget Batch's photographs resonate visually with advertisements, yet present uneasily familiar tableaus: market interiors, department stores, and logo-laden landscapes. The historical and social context of consumerism is explored by several artists. Miguel Luciano's paintings synthesize packaging imagery circa 1900 with contemporary consumer culture iconography to explore the persistent colonial history between the United States and Puerto Rico. Ligorano/Reese's Breakfast of Champions underscores the marketing techniques used by Bush, Cheney, and Powell to sell a war in Iraq to the American public. Margarita Cabrera's sculptures of Mexican-made appliances use materials such as vinyl, buttons, and thread, examining exploitative labor practices along the Mexican/American border.
The conventions of fashion are queried by Greg Fuchs and the Cheryl Yun Collection. Fuchs' documentary photographs of Manhattan boutiques reframe the garish sexuality of window displays. The Cheryl Yun Collection merges the fashion and news industries with its line of handbags, crafted from media imagery of catastrophe and war.
Several artists assess the marketing of politics. David Opdyke's Patriotic Shuffle is an absurdist take on sloganeering, and You're either with us or against us is sadly prescient. Ligorano/Reese's The W Series satirizes the intersection of politics and business. Finally, employing propaganda techniques normally associated with corporate campaigns, The Associated Artists for Propaganda Research present a detailed model imagining the Downing of Air Force One.
The artists of Critical Consumption raise questions and shape a spirited discussion of politics and consumerism. Behind their provocations and humor lay passionate aims to uncover, suggest, and assert new meanings.
Jonathan Allen
January 2003
Exhibition Checklist
Unless otherwise noted all works are from the collection of the artists;
dimensions are given in inches (height x width x depth).
Associated Artists for Propoganda Research, a collective whose small scale models and installations critique the propaganda techniques intrinsic to corporate power structures.
The Black Box (Downing of Air Force One), 2001
Wood, foam, plastic model
6 x 72 x 72
$2,500
Bridget Batch, whose photographs explore the far reaches of advertising and consumerism in logo-laden landscapes, market interiors, and department stores.
The Gates of Hell (Bloomingdale’s, New York, NY), 2002
Lambda print, 47 x 30
$1,000
Petrol Más Fina (Houston, TX), 2001
Lambda print, 40 x 30
$1,000
Windex Army (Home Depot, Clearlake, TX), 2001
Lambda print, 40 x 30
$1,000
Untitled (H + M, New York, NY), 2002
Lambda print, 40 x 30
$1,000
Dressing Room Blinded (V.L.M., New York, NY), 2001
Lambda print, 40 x 30
$1,000
Untitled (K-Mart, Rochester, MN), 2002
Lambda print, 40 x 30
$1,000
Margarita Cabrera reproduces appliances in colorful, unconventional materials, examining the relationship between Mexican labor that produce the goods and American consumers who buy them.
Slow-cooker, 2003
Vinyl, thread, metal, electrical wiring, Velcro
Dimensions variable
$5,000
Waffle-maker, 2003
Vinyl, thread, metal, electrical wiring, Velcro
Dimensions variable
$5,000
Food-processor, 2003
Vinyl, thread, metal, electrical wiring, Velcro
Dimensions variable
$5,000
Heidi Cody employs the graphic language of consumer culture to highlight the public’s fascination with branding, logos and advertising.
Fast Pitch, 2002
Reverse painted Plexiglas
24 x 24
Courtesy of Roebling Hall Gallery, Brooklyn
$900 each; $7,000 set of nine
Ads on TP, 2001
Offset printed toilet paper
Each: 4 1/2 x 4 5/8 diameter
Courtesy of Roebling Hall Gallery, Brooklyn
$7.99 per roll
Greg Fuchs tests the traditional objective viewpoint of documentary photography with a more expressive one; his latest series reframes the garish sexuality of Manhattan boutique windows.
Mercer Street, New York, 2003
C-print on masonite, 24 x 20
$1,000
Worth Avenue, Palm Beach, 2002
C-print on masonite, 24 x 20
$1,000
West Broadway, New York, 2002
C-print on masonite, 24 x 20
$1,000
Prince Street, New York, 2002
C-print on masonite, 24 x 20
$1,000
Broadway 1, New York, 2002
C-print on masonite, 24 x 20
$1,000
Broadway 2, New York, 2003
C-print on masonite, 24 x 20
$1,000
Ligorano/Reese, collaborative media artists who use satire to underscore the relationship between marketing and politics.
Breakfast of Champions, 1991
Video, mixed media
Dimensions variable
$5,000
W Collection, 2001
Dish towel, glass bottle, snow globe
Dimensions variable
$500
Miguel Luciano, whose paintings combine Puerto Rican folklore icons with contemporary consumer culture iconography to explore the persistent colonial history between the United States and Puerto Rico.
Uncle Kola, 2003
Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 72
$8,000
Lody Knows, 2000
Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 72
$8,000
David Opdyke, whose slide projection work deconstructs current events, evoking and amplifying the reductive, surreal generalizations of their representation in the media.
You’re either with us or against us, 2001
ID card sleeves, paper, plastic, motors
9 x 42 x 6
$3,000
Patriotic Shuffle, 2002
Digital video projection
Dimensions variable
NFS
Cheryl Yun Collection mimics the forms of the most elite consumer industry: fashion. The Cheryl Yun collection combines designer objects with violent and tragic media images.
Skopje Square-Handled Purse
"Macedonians Say They Meet Rules for NATO Troops"
Wednesday, August 15, 2001
Newspaper, Rives BFK, wire
6 x 11 x 2
$1,200
Tetovo Bucket Tote with Oscar Lining
"Wide Offensive by Macedonia Presses Rebels"
March 25, 2001
Newspaper, Rives BFK
10 x 16 x 3
NFS
Terrorist Tile Bag
Terrorist Mug Shots
January 2001-January 2002
Newspaper, museum board
5 x 11 x 1
$1,500
Pentagon Crescent Sac
"Before and After...Commando Strikes"
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
Newspaper, Rives BFK
7 x 11 x 1
$1,200
Islamabad Envelope Clutch
"Bin Laden Taunts U.S. and Praises Hijackers"
Monday, October 8, 2001
Newspaper, Rives BFK wire
9 x 15 1/2
$1,200
Kabul Saddlebag
"U.S. Embassy in Kabul is destroyed by Protesters"
September 27, 2001
Newspaper, Rives BFK
8 x 11 x 2
$1,200
"Melee at Jerusalem’s Holiest Tinderbox"
Monday, July 30, 2001
Newspaper, Rives BFK
9 x 18 1/2 x 4
$1,500
Beijing Oval Shoulder Bag with Bead Clasp
"Falun Gong, Chinese TV Publicizes Public Burning"
January 30, 2001
Newspaper, Rives BFK, wire
6 x 7 x 2
$1,200
Pyongyang Bowling Bag
"North Koreans, Belts Tight, Cobble Up a Future"
February 25, 2001
Newspaper, Rives BFK wire
10 x 16 x 3
$1,500
Hlabisa Box Bag
"AIDS Obstacles Overwhelm a Small South African Town"
March 29, 2001
Newspaper, Rives BFK wire
4 1/4 x 6 x 4 1/4
$1,200
Azure Stitched Flap Shoulder Bag
"Arab Drives Bus into Crowd, Killing 8 Israelis"
February 15, 2001
Newspaper, silk thread
5 x 9 x 1 3/4
$1,000
Hezbollah Satchel
"Hezbollah Becomes Potent Anti-U.S. Force"
December 24, 2002
Newspaper, Rives BFK, wire
7 x 10 x 2
$1,200
Ciudad Juárez Bag
"Wave of Women’s Killings Confounds Juárez"
December 10, 2002
Newspaper, Rives BFK, wire
$1,200
Ramallah Beaded Evening Purse with Finger Strap
"U.N. Chief Tells Israel It Must End ‘Illegal Occupation’"
March 13, 2002
Newspaper, Rives BFK, wire
4 x 6
$1,200
Guest curator Jonathan Allen is an artist whose work was recently part of the 2002 Artists in the Marketplace group exhibition at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, and will be seen in the upcoming group exhibition Crossings: Curatorial and Artistic Practice at the West Side Gallery, New York. He manages the Henry Urbach Architecture Gallery, New York. This is his first curatorial endeavor.
The purchase of artwork is an important way individuals can support contemporary artists and share their work with others. The Rotunda Gallery is a not-for-profit exhibition space and retains 20% of the proceeds of sales to help underwrite its exhibitions and educational programs. Please ask the gallery sitter if you would like additional information.
Gallery Location/Directions
The Rotunda Gallery is grateful for the generous support of our exhibition and education programs from the Sally and Milton Avery Foundation, Con Edison, Forest City Ratner Companies, the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, the Independence Community Foundation, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, J.P. Morgan Chase, the New York Community Trust, the New York Times Foundation, the Josephine Bay and C. Michael Paul Foundation, the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, the Underwood Foundation, Verizon, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, as well as numerous individuals.
Programs are made possible in part by public funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs with support from Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and the Brooklyn Delegation to the New York City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts.
The Rotunda Gallery is a program of BRIC/Brooklyn Information & Culture
Located in Brooklyn Heights, just over the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, the Gallery is also easily accessible by public transportation. It is a short walk from the 2,3; 4,5; M; N or R trains at the Court Street/Borough Hall station; or the A, C trains at High Street.
Acknowledgements
The Rotunda Gallery gratefully acknowledges the 1999 Leadership Gift of Richard B. Fisher.
The Rotunda Gallery is grateful for the generous support of our exhibition and education programs from the Sally and Milton Avery Foundation, Chase Manhattan Bank Foundation, Con Edison, the Cowles Charitable Trust, Forest City Ratner Companies, the Greenwall Foundation, the Independence Community Foundation, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, and the New York Community Trust, as well as numerous individuals.
Programs are made possible in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs with support from the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President and the Brooklyn Delegation to the New York City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The Rotunda Gallery is a project of BRIC/Brooklyn Information & Culture.
Thursday, January 30, 2003 through Saturday March 15, 2003
Admission is FREE