America the Gift Shop
If America had a giftshop, what would it sell? We’re not talking about cheese and maple syrup here, but souvenirs and other reminders of the nation’s current involvement in world affairs. Artist Phil Toledano has figured out the whole inventory, so all Mr. Bush and his cronies need to do is pick up the phone and place an order.
In America the Giftshop, the celebrated photographer has created multiple installations and artworks inspired by eight years of the Bush regime and the raging wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The art works are part parody and part biting criticism, and consider the current status of America as the world’s superpower through the lens of the most American of exports: commercialism.
Our favorite piece was an Abu Ghraib-inspired piece of a hooded naked prisoner serving as the base of a coffee table. A snow globe with Dick Cheney shredding top secret documents inside was whimsical, yet scary, and a series of cuddly stuffed toys elicited horror with their exploding brains and guts, and the images are still troubling us, in a thought-provoking way.
We took a first glimpse of the collection at SoHo’s latest luxury meeting space, MEET, where the artist premiered the works, and we’re anticipating word as to where the exhibit will move next.
Social Currency: Commercial art has been grabbing the headlines lately, so we’re glad to see a biting criticism of commercialization and politics in the art world. A thoughtful, not-your-ordinary criticism of America and its state.
You can take a view of the collection at America the Giftshop.
Tags: Art
This article was posted by Stephan Paschalides on Monday, October 27th, 2008 at 9:58 pm and is filed under Art & Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
