We are antagonistically delighted to announce that COLL.EO is one of the featured artists in the collective show 'If Elvis Presley was the King, who was James Brown? Antagonizing The Social Through Humor and Irony' curated by David de Rozas and Fred Alvarado and hosted by The Art Gallery at San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California.
The exhibition will run from August 28th till September 25, 2014.
The Opening reception is scheduled for August 28th between 5-8 pm on the Third Floor of the Cesar Chavez Student Center located on 1450 Holloway Ave, San Francisco.
Artists Line-Up
Mark Benson
Carolina Caycedo
COLL.EO
Martin Sammy Gardea
John Leaños
Senalka Mcdonald
Neil “Clavo” Rivas & Lana Dandan
Rafael Suarez
Cassie Thornton
Alex Wang
Image from The Art Gallery, SFSU
Curatorial statement
“If Elvis Presley was the King, who was James Brown?” explores the ways in which contemporary artists use humor and irony as strategies to articulate critical and political reflections. The artists who participate in this group exhibition reveal how humor and irony are used to highlight discrimination, war, nationalism, class, power relations, or government policies. Their artworks interpret the world in unconventional ways, offering us new forms of knowledge, experience, and action.
“If Elvis Presley was the King, who was James Brown?” is not a funny show; nor a cynical one. In spite of mass media products, advertisements, and many artworks demonstrate that there’s a thin line between humor/irony and cynicism, the artists who participate in this exhibition don’t cover and ignore; they precisely act and function as a catalysts to uncover and recognized opening negotiations of power with society, daily life, and art itself. This exhibition aims to continue an ongoing conversation where precisely humor and irony play as an antidotes against forget and dismiss, consent and agreement. The artworks displayed in this exhibition demonstrate that the smile is not only the last thing you can wear, and how some art practices continue to be an effective tool to bring into question and engage within our daily life. (David De Rozas & Fred Alvarado)
LINK: The Art Gallery