NYAB Event - Bob and Roberta Smith "The Art Party (Gotham Golem)"

Bob and Roberta Smith "The Art Party (Gotham Golem)"

The Boiler

This event has ended.

Inspired in part by the 1930′s WPA Program where artists like Lee Krasner, Dorothea Lang, Ben Shahn, and Jackson Pollock were central to an imaginative cultural investment and were put to work to inspire America. They “…didn’t restart the economy by any shape or means, but they did provide a narrative of hope and showed that art provides something worth living for.” (Smith) Rather than cutting social programs The Art Party advocate creative cultural solutions to rebuild America. The Art Party seeks to provide a creative yet critical discourse of hope in response to the Tea Party’s discourse of austerity and despair. The Art Party stands for stimulus and sensible long-term measures to rebuild American confidence. The Art Party says singers make America sing and dancers make America dance. The Art party celebrates that innovation comes from sheets of blank paper and pencils. The Art Party has a broadly liberal and humanistic agenda on other issues. Where the Tea Party is hawkish the Art Party is peaceful. The Art Party is opposed to the death penalty and supports women’s rights. The Art Party is not a formal political party but rather a pressure group and natural home for progressive liberal people to unite on issues of agreement. The Art Party understands that the American left is concerned about the failures of the Obama presidency but it celebrates Obama’s landmark election as a fundamental shift in American political discourse and seeks to preserve and build upon the gains made in 2009.

In Jewish folklore a Golem referred to an amorphous, anthropomorphic figure brought to life to protect the Jews. “Golem was sculpted in 16th Century Prague to save the Jews from the anti-Semites. The Gotham Golem has returned to save liberal America using his or her special power of creativity.” (Smith) This exhibition will feature a large-scale sculpture – The Gotham Golem – created by the artist to protect the creative arts and launch The Art Party. Fabricated from scraps of wood, found objects, and cloth, the Golem will be covered with Smith’s signature DIY signage slogans as well as projections.

Media

• Painting
• Other

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