A Primitive Future Group Show at Subliminal Projects
ABOUT THE SHOW
“A Primitive Future” focuses on the cultural, social, economic, and guiding principles of past versus future belief systems and practices. How do we determine right and wrong or acceptable and unacceptable in both the aesthetics of art and in societal behavior? How will colonialism take shape in the future? How has craft morphed with the everyday and become timeless? Has society in general become more “civilized” or are we the same just in different form? What can the future look like?
The selected artists touch on some of the above questions through form, subject matter, or both. More importantly, they question the conventional idea of what the (conflicted) term primitive means or is associated with.
The late 19th century deemed ‘primitive art’ as simplistic in form and color and lacking in linear perspective and depth. This style was eventually adopted by well-known French and German artists and embraced for its honesty, spontaneity and emotional charge.
In the visual arts, it stood for a rejection of the corrupt values of the West, perpetuated by the effects of industrialization and the Great War.
However, the term “primitive,” when used in an anthropological context, applied to ‘early’ cultures but was often interpreted as meaning savage or inferior. Today, that interpretation is highly criticized as narrow minded, inconsistent, and indicative of people’s inability to self-reflect.
Depending on your interpretation, future generations might do better if there was a return to ‘primitivism’ through aesthetics and experiences as opposed to the unemotional engagement tied to an increasingly digital, remote-controlled world.
The exhibition is not meant to answer any of these questions, or to satisfy one particular interpretation or association. It instead highlights the confusion and the possibility surrounding the present, the past, and the future and invites the viewer to take a trip into the minds of six artistic visions that weave them all together.
ABOUT MY WORK IN THIS SHOW
My work references the above-mentioned concept through subject matter, turning the adage coined by English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton that the “pen is mightier than the sword” on its head. This statement advocated that communication or advocacy of an independent press is a more effective tool than direct violence. For “A Primitive Future,” I have created weapons out of typewriter parts. Typewriters are a tool meant to celebrate communication, thought, and ideas. But I have repurposed them into weapons, the same type of weapons that have ironically been used to quiet and subdue free speech in recent terrorist attacks.
A PRIMITIVE FUTURE
Presented by Subliminal Projects
Featuring new work by AJ Fosik, Ben Venom, Frohawk Two Feathers, Haroshi, Lucien Shapiro, and Ravi Zupa
1331 Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
Public Reception December 5, 2015
Exhibition Runs December 5, 2015 – January 6, 2016