Machinegunettiquette
Skip Arnold, Becca, Aidas Bareikis, Julian Dersin, Micol Hebron, Anthony James, Karen King, Howard McCalebb, Sasha Noe, David Rourke Evans, William Saylor, Peter Wiehl
1 July – 5 August, 1999
Exhibition
Opening reception Thursday July 1, 6-8pm
Lovingly borrowed from a title of a Damned album, Machinegunetiquette includes artists whose work considers the accidents of the everyday. A growing bastard progeny inheriting the anti-aesthetics of punk, the subversive tactics of the Situationalists International and the theatricality of the Fluxus movement has evolved. Most recent incarnations include culture jamming which turns the vernacular of consumerism in on itself in a daisy-chain of self-devourment. In music, glitchwerks highlights and repeats ad infinitum the chaos of technological blunders into stunning but jarring compositions. It is amidst such street and pop culture movements that these artists have derived their language. Eschewing the codification of refinement, their works at first appear haphazard or insistently confrontational. Aggression, violence, and the absurd aspects of contemporary culture make appearances through a common attitude of irreverence. At the core is the belief that within the debris, not beneath it, exists the spark of inspiration.
Skip Arnold’s video “Girls in Bikinis” is offensive and definitely not PC…deal with it. Aidas Bareikis drawings are saturated, chaotic and informed by a sustained belief in the power of entropy. Becca’s paintings of naughty little girls have adorned streets and buildings all over Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. where amidst the detritus of the city, her images have seeped into a shared urban subconscious. Julian Dersin has an obsession about cars. But not your typical hot-rod variety, Dersin depicts running cars that are literally held together by tape, gum and twine. Micol Hebron wears the hottest fashion accessory/psychic baggage of the day. Her video, ”Fountains,” may literally make you lose your lunch. Anthony James poses a high-tech virtual dilemma, evoking the seduction and accessibility of weaponry. Karen King portrays pure evil with her “mug shots.” Depicting New York City’s Finest gone bad, her canvases of blank stares will make you think twice about the neighborhood beat. Howard McCalebb tackles head on, questions of, crime/ punishment, incarceration and the voyuerism inherent in the allocation of justice. His portraits of women on death row are haunting in their anguished terror. Cryogenics, useless appliances, and the love of beer, are all referenced in Sasha Noe’s beer freezing sculpture. David Rourke Evans becomes Captain America on the skids. William Saylor takes one of the most common forms in street construction, strips away its function and transforms it into a beautiful totem of glam. Peter Wiehl takes a simple military exercise and turns up the heat in “Jumping Jacks on Fire.”
Artist Bio
curated by
Elizabeth Balogh
works by
Skip Arnold, Becca, Aidas Bareikis, Julian Dersin, Micol Hebron, Anthony James, Karen King, Howard McCalebb, Sasha Noe, David Rourke Evans, William Saylor, Peter Wiehl