In the world of the re-Tweet, Pinterest, Instagram, and the Facebook share, appropriation is everywhere. We are constantly branding ourselves, creating and curating our aesthetic and cultural identities. There is an infinitely shareable world of available content, and a constant compulsion to participate in the mass culture conversation by borrowing the symbols and icons of shareable media.
Pop Authentic asks, when appropriation becomes so deeply imbedded in the basic ways in which we communicate through media, what makes the 21st century pop artist stand apart? How has the symbolic language of pop art transformed? Does the artist have more pressure or responsibility to make a unique statement? Is uniqueness desirable or even possible? And how do pop artists contend with the marketability of the images they appropriate?
Curated by Executive Director Emma Katz and Anthony Tino, Pop Authentic features the work of Theatre Reverb, Brian Cavanaugh, Charlotte Emerson Fassler, Tate Foley, Chris Gideon, Matthew Scott Gualco, Khanh H. Le, Katie Mackowick, Joshua Pelletier, Dave Rittinger, George Spencer, and Joash Tuinstra. These artists make work that investigates the contradictions and possibilities of pop art in the 21st century, specifically how pop artists conceive of their identity as artists in a world of appropriation, whether this type of art making can or should create authentic experiences, and how artists come to terms with profiting from the pop aesthetic.
On View
October 26–November 2
Location
The Main Gallery
51 Bergen St.
Opening Reception
Saturday, October 10
6–10pm