Curatorial Statement
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
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.
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