Ari Marcopoulos "Fear God"

DBA Christian Haye

poster for Ari Marcopoulos "Fear God"

This event has ended.

Through a series of new photographs and a video shot with a web cam, Marcopoulos explores a disquieting physical landscape scarred by reckless exuberance. The title of the exhibition, "Fear God," is taken from a drawing by the artist's son who, in turn, copied the cover photograph of hip-hop artist Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" album. In the video, "Ride," a teenager lip-syncs to Tupac Shakur's "When We Ride." Exuding confidence and pride in knowing the lyrics of the song, he seemingly performs for an imaginary audience— like the millions of wannabe stars on YouTube. A second character jumps in and out of the screen, also singing and throwing gang signs at the protagonist, while Marcopoulos himself makes a brief onscreen appearance. Their tough effrontery wavers when—for a split second—the teenagers make eye-contact and the pseudo-star cracks a smile. The lo-fi quality of the video is also seen in the photographs, which are photocopied and enlarged to look like posters. Selected from a vast and continuously expanding body of work, these images demonstrate how markings on the body—scars, bruises, and tattoos—often have broader significance as encoded signs of social affiliation and status within insular communities. Similarly, graffiti in the urban landscape functions as a distinctly expressive residue of life which adorns otherwise banal architectural environments in an attempt to articulate public dissent from the status quo. "Fear God" not only reveals Marcopoulos' continued interest in documenting underground youth and street cultures, but also his perceptiveness in photographing them—originally seen in his early photographs of burgeoning hip hop and skateboarding scenes. This is the artist's first solo exhibition at the gallery.

[Image: Ari Marcopoulos "Left Coast" (2008) Photocopied photograph, 53 x 36 in. Courtesy of the artist and The Project, New York]

Media

Schedule

from November 06, 2008 to December 19, 2008

Opening Reception on 2008-11-06 from 18:00 to 20:00

Artist(s)

Ari Marcopoulos

  • Facebook

    Reviews

    All content on this site is © their respective owner(s).
    New York Art Beat (2008) - About - Contact - Privacy - Terms of Use