Mass Media meets
Mass
Production: New works by Chicago natives Hebru Brantley and
Christophe
Roberts will be presented at Lyons Wier Gallery in concurrent
exhibitions
that blur the boundaries between fine art, social commentary and
consumer
products. Each artist will present a body of work that engages
and
navigates contemporary urban realities with critical wit,
precision,
agility, and
vision.
Hebru Brantley
presents
“Wait a Cotton Picking
Minute”
From the absurd and blatant
to
the subtle and subversive, Hebru Brantley’s work explores
the
stereotypes and racist propaganda found in American mass media, such
as
early Warner Brothers and Disney cartoons. What emerges is an
intelligent
and vivid deconstruction of America’s social history and the
chilling
possibility that we have all in someway been infected by the
same
subliminal, racially insensitive media
virus.
Brantley’s subjects
are
often cinematic, gleaned from “Blaxploitation” films
and
science fiction thrillers. His spray-painted and stylistically
brushed
canvases show the influence of Romare Bearden, Keith Haring,
Jean-Michel
Basquiat, and Black Folk Art. The raw emotion and youthful expression
in
Brantley's work depicts themes of race like an open, unhealed wound.
The
characters in Brantley's art, such as his “Coon Toons”
series,
reveals our shared past co-mingling with our present consciousness
and
sensitivities.
How should we deal with
our
racial history and all the artifacts that come along with it? Do we
bury
the offending materials and pretend it never existed or do we inject
the
materials into the ongoing public dialogue about race and racism
in
America? These questions serve as both impetus and fodder
for
Brantley’s work. The magic and mythology of childhood animation
meets
a fitting analysis, through a young artist whose critical eye
dismantles
the soft power of this
“entertainment.”
Christophe Roberts
presents
“Journey of a Thousand
Eyes”
By collecting and
re-purposing
Nike shoeboxes, Christophe Roberts creates striking and
meaningful
life-size sculptures of wild animals that invite the viewer to consider
the
environmental impact of the production, sale and consumption of
consumer
goods.
Made with found materials,
spray
paint, cardboard and glue, minus the aid of blueprints,
Roberts’
beasts are constructed in a freestyle manner from the depths of
the
artist’s imagination. The sculptures can at once be viewed as
visual
metaphors for consumerism and society’s general disregard for
its
wastefulness. Nike’s main advertising pitch aims at convincing
the
public that their product can impart health, physical acumen and
sexual
allure. However, the by-product of this positioning is tons of
waste
generated by the disposal of the packaging
itself.
One’s immediate
reaction
to Roberts’ work is that it could be an exaltation of
corporate
branding. Upon further examination it becomes clear that Roberts is
using
art to remind of us that the animals he creates are being destroyed by
the
very medium he employs, consumer
waste.
Whether Roberts’
is
admiring or admonishing societal norms, he is certainly addressing
it
ironically. The very strength and power of his sculptures is surely put
in
harm’s way by the actual medium of his message. However,
by
re-purposing these raw abandoned geometric receptacles, he
renders
connotations of renewal and
possibility.
For more information, contact:
gallery@lyonswiergallery.com
or visit www.lyonswiergallery.com
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