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other 2009 exhibitions › Here Now, There Then (Quesenberry) › Going Home: El Día de los Muertos › James Baker Hall: Photo/Synthesis › Nineveh (Ezra Kellerman) › Constant World: Jennifer & Kevin McCoy › Past Highlights & Acquisitions › Ross Gordon: Ceremony Series › Paris Kyne: The Colour of Racing › UK College of Design: Revitalize Shippingport › All's Fair in Art & War › The Photographs of Dominic Rouse

All's Fair in Art and War:
Envisioning Conflict

October 2008 - March 1, 2009
Street Level Gallery

"Artists are the visual, verbal and audio guardians of our collective consciousness. Few can remember the politics or history of 18th century Europe, but the music of Mozart and the paintings of Watteau continue to be a source of inspiration. We might not always like the message, but it is artists that distill the essence of an era."

      — Robert Flynn Johnson
          Gottfried Helnwein Catalogue for Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

In our increasingly global community it is not a surprise that the art of our time is engaged with nuances of political discourse. Much of politics is concerned with the relationship of social and collective behavior which often becomes inspiration for contemporary art.

Not bound to partisan perspectives or conventional aesthetics, the artists in this exhibition exemplify the freedom and independence artists share that allow them to provoke thought by any means necessary. Confronted with the thousands of toy soldiers that make up Dave Cole's Memorial Flag, one can't help but question the meaning of the flag and its symbolism in America today. Or when the viewer steps through the menacing gates of Homeland Security by Jota Castro, he or she becomes a participant and is challenged to question the freedoms we sometimes take for granted. Tin-Kin Hung takes a less subjective point of view of American politics when he casts the familiar faces of politicians in his satirical animation. Ironically by reducing the seriousness of global warming or the 2008 Presidential Election to cartoon animation, Hung is able to bring to the forefront the absurdities often overlooked in mainstream politics.

No subject is off limits for this international and local group of artists. Artists like Wang Guangyi, Jose Toirac, Claire Fontaine and Olivier Blanckart allow us to question the power of images and language and how they define our lives.

Exhibited Works

• Olivier Blanckart (French), AlinSallal Abu Ghraib, 2006. PVC tape, craft paper, polyurethane coated custom silkscreen paint.
• Olivier Blanckart (French), Post-production (Kim), 2006. PVC tape, craft paper, polyurethane coated custom silkscreen paint.
• Olivier Blanckart (French), The Remix Saigon (Saigon-Saitama), 1998. Scotch tape, craft paper, cardboard.
• Jota Castro (Peruvian), Homeland Security, 2008. Steel, razor wire.
• Dave Cole (American), Memorial Flag, 2005. Acrylic on panel with mixed media.
• Alain Declercq (French), Gun Safe, 2008. Adapted gun safe.
• Al Farrow (American), Study for a Mosque Reliquary, 2001. Guns, bullets, 24k gold, steel.
• Claire Fontaine (French), Untitled (Identity, Sovereignty, and Tradition), 2007. Flags, flag poles, fittings and dust.
• Gottfried Helnwein (Austrian), Untitled (Portrait of Child), 2005. Oil and acrylic on canvas.
• Shayne Hull (American), McCain (Hesitation), 2008. Enamel on panel.
• Shayne Hull (American), Obama (The Joker), 2008. Enamel on panel.
• Kenneth Tin Kin Hung (Chinese), Because Washington is Hollywood for Ugly People, 2006-7. Single channel video with sound, running time 7:38 minutes.
• Kenneth Tin Kin Hung (Chinese), Gas Zappers, 2007. Single channel video with sound, running time 5:00 minutes.
• Fay Ku (Taiwanese), Return to Camp (from the War Series), 2006. Graphite on gray paper.
• Fay Ku (Taiwanese), Snared (from the War Series), 2006. Graphite on gray paper.
• Fay Ku (Taiwanese), Tiger Forest II (from the War Series), 2006. Graphite on gray paper.
• Rachel Ann Mason (American), The Ambassadors, 2006. Porcelain, painted political figures.
• Nick Owens (Louisvillian), McSurgency, 2008. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and Art Ecology Gallery, Louisville.
• Nick Owens (Louisvillian), Phasers on Stun, 2008. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and Art Ecology Gallery, Louisville.
• Bruno Peinado (French), Untitled, ErRorschach Test, 2005. Black vinyl.
• Miguel Angel Rojas (Colombian), Caqueta, 2007. Single channel video, running time 7:38 minutes.
• Jose Toirac (Cuban), Fidel con Nina (Gray Series), 2004. Oil on canvas.
• Jose Toirac (Cuban), A Brief History of Cuba as Told by Other Things #7: Bayer, 2001. Oil on canvas.
• Jose Toirac (Cuban), A Brief History of Cuba as Told by Other Things #8: Apple, 2001. Oil on canvas.
• Jose Toirac (Cuban), A Brief History of Cuba as Told by Other Things #10: Pioneer, 2001. Oil on canvas.

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2009 Exhibitions