"Eric Redetzke: Everyday Apocalypse"
2006-05-06 until 2006-06-23
Workmens Cirle
Los Angeles, CA, USA United States of America

A Shenere Velt Gallery presents artist Eric Redetzke's eerie commentary on modern values, "Everyday Apocalypse," from May 6 to June 23. Eric Redetzke says about his work: "The business-suit is a symbol of success and achievement, representing the essence of the American Dream. Apply yourself, follow your dreams, work hard, and maybe in the end you can stand on top of the world, with your arms folded proudly on your chest, sporting a crisp black suit. The business of America is business, and the suit is the armor of our entrepreneurial champions."

"Yet the suit is also a harbinger of darker things. It indicates the mindless, soulless shark-feed of capitalist culture, the deliberate insanity of accumulation for the sake of itself. The crisp black suit cloaks the Enron executive, the lying politician, the war profiteer. Ted Bundy wore nice clean suits to insinuate himself into the world of his victims.

"I have come to see the image of the suit, of The Businessman, as a fitting symbol of the American psyche. It displays success and ambition, yet conceals deep and twisted motives. This show deals with images of suits, businessmen, and horror. The esthetic fusion has come to make perfect sense to me.

I want these images to speak to the fears we all must have about our world. I want to articulate the distress I feel out there, the sense that something is terribly wrong, that humankind is degenerating into something corrupt and grotesque. I do not want it to happen. All I know is that I must speak about these things through images, and in doing so, try to find my way toward a better world."

Eric Redetzke earned a BFA in Painting from the University of Oregon in 2001, and received the David McGosh Scholarship in Painting. He has had shows in Oregon galleries and at Indiana University Northwest.

A Shenere Velt means "a more beautiful world" in Yiddish. Regular Gallery hours are Monday-Thursday, 10-5; Friday, 10-3; and by special appointment. For further information or guided and group tours, call 310.552.2007.

A Shenere Velt Gallery is part of The Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring, which has been active in Southern California since 1908, dedicated to Jewish culture and social justice.

Related Links:

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