Exit Art gives the financial crisis an exciting new twist

The financial crisis has had an undeniable effect on the art world over the past few years. Shrinking gallery budgets and work opportunities for artists indicate a growing problem. Exit Art’s exhibit “America for Sale” seeks to address these issues by taking a look at the financial crisis from an artist’s perspective.

The exhibit is part of a larger program, launched by Exit Art co-founder Papo Colo, called Social-Environmental Aesthetics (SEA). Co-curator Lauren Rosati said that the “program itself aims to explore issues that affect people’s lives.” The exhibit explains that, “Our enormous debt, shaky stock market, and American reliance on fiscal support from abroad have eroded America’s authoritarian place in global politics. Foreign countries are buying stake in the U.S.—in our real estate, and in our debt. The nation has become a marketable commodity.”

This theme is explored in a number of different ways by the 11 artists that comprise the show. Sung Ho Choi’s piece is a wall-sized composition that boldly declares the American Dream, also the name of the piece. Upon closer examination of the material, the viewer discovers that the entire piece is composed of lottery tickets and that the artist has bubbled in the numbers to spell out its message. The effect is an ominous warning about the danger of riches, often propagated by the American Dream.

The show takes an issue that Americans have heard about incessantly for the past three years and presents it in a refreshing and easily digestible way.

The exciting nature of the exhibit is most evident in Elaine Kaufmann and Erin Ko ‘s works. Both artists make references to communist propaganda in their pieces. Kaufmann’s piece is exceptionally clever at communicating its point. Her poster, titled “The Strength to Be There,” is modeled after Russian Constructivist nationalistic propaganda, but instead of purporting state pride, it supports AIG. Viewers are invited to take one of the posters, enhancing the irony of spreading the feeble doctrine of the financial centers.

TRIIIBE’s “Bailouts and Bonuses” is a video presentation of guerilla performances in front of the New York Stock Exchange and the American International Building. The identical triplets, Alicia, Kelly, and Sara Casil, held briefcases stuffed with cash in one hand and cans for money in the other. Their performance criticizes the “payment of year-end bonuses to top Wall Street executives and the simultaneous request for government bailouts.”

A multimedia piece by Abby Manock, SoA ’07, is also featured in the show. The video takes place in a cartoon-like world where specific actions are repeated five times each as a voice counts “one, two, three, four, five.” The piece explores how methods of production and transportation control behavior in the modern world.

“America for Sale” is a critical and highly clever examination of what Rosati calls “a wide-reaching problem affecting all people.” The exhibit makes the issues of the financial crisis new and thought-provoking. Ultimately, “America for Sale” is everything a social critique should be—compelling, original, and sharp.
The exhibit runs through Nov. 21 at Exit Art (475 10th Ave. and 36th St.). There is a suggested $5 admission fee.