Exhibition - Focus Group

Elaine Angelopoulos, Joseph Beuys, Nancy Chunn, Nancy Chunn/David McDevitt, Chuck Close, Shepard Fairey, Rico Gatson, Leon Golub, Helen Mayer Harrison & Newton Harrison, Jenny Holzer, Robert Indiana, Ilya Kabakov, Deborah Kass, Vitaly Komar, Komar & Melamid, Les Levine, Roy Lichtenstein, Chris Lord, Alexander Melamid, David Opdyke, William Pope.L, Robert Rauschenberg, Ed Ruscha, Julian Schnabel, Andres Serrano, Ben Shahn, Federico Solmi, Nancy Spero, Kara Walker, Andy Warhol, Carrie Mae Weems, William Wegman, and Lou Woehrle.
 
United by their assertive, sometimes insistent, political messages, the fifty-two works by thirty-three artists included in this exhibition offer a select and lively perspective on American elections, politicians and social power dynamics. Spanning more than five decades, the works not only refer to political subjects and social issues specific to their time, but also resonate with ideological and humanistic themes amazingly relevant today.

This exhibition invites the viewer to compare and contrast many visual strategies that explore issues of racism, demagoguery, oppression, war, climate change, among others. Some artists employ tools such as satire, propaganda, and the portrayal of newsworthy events or utopian ideals. Others utilize more iconic subjects-such as U.S. presidents, Uncle Sam, the Oval Office, and Old Glory-to celebrate, examine, and critique American governance and policy.

Some noteworthy inclusions are:

1. Ben Shahn’s limited edition print Vote Johnson from 1964, which depicts Barry Goldwater when Lyndon B. Johnson was running against him for VP. This work inspired Andy Warhol to create Vote McGovern in 1972, with its giant, green-faced image of Richard Nixon. Deborah Kass then picked up the mantel in 2016 when she created Vote Hillary, with a similarly large portrayal of a raging Donald Trump. This exhibition is likely the first time that the above three works have been shown together.

2. A never-exhibited work by Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison entitled The Seven Lagoons, which concisely summarizes their major opus exploring sustainability and the impact of global warming. Pioneers in ecological art, the artists created works focusing on earth-based solutions to human problems decades before this subject was part of the art world and, later, part of popular consciousness.

3. Land of the Stupid by Nancy Chunn, a painting depicting the 2000 presidential election which includes a silhouette of nine Supreme Court Justices telling voters to “Get Lost!”
 
We hope Focus Group inspires viewers to formulate their own conclusions and then head to the polls to vote this November!
 
“The artist’s job is to be a witness to his time in history.”
Robert Rauschenberg

“To make people free is the aim of art, therefore art for me is the science of freedom.”
Joseph Beuys