Agitprop!
http://e-leven.co.uk/past/agitprop/
11 – 28 August 2010
Agitprop’ – noun,
Political (originally communist) propaganda, esp. in art or literature:
[as adj.] agitprop painters.
ORIGIN: 1930s, Russian, blend of agitatsiya ‘agitation’ and propaganda ‘propaganda.’
In these most political of times, Agitprop! strives to examine the future of contemporary art in society and invites artists to make work in response to this question. Referencing the saturation of the manufactured propaganda image, constantly produced and ubiquitous, Project Space 11 will present a rolling exhibition of black and white posters (both in the Project Space, and throughout the city) created by regional, national and international artists.
Project Space 11 will act as a temporary campaign office for the duration of the show: manufacturing propaganda multiples that visitors can distribute as they see fit.
While the aesthetic responses may refer to the design canon of Soviet and Maoist propaganda images, the connotations of the work refer to a broad range of pertinent issues. Some may be a reaction to institutional agendas, or artists’ responses to hierarchies within the visual arts ecology, others explore what art-propaganda is, or could be.
Agitprop! intends to examine censorship: something that is inherent in the selection and curation process of exhibitions and awards, in a wider sense, and essentially in the curatorial process of this project.
Artists include:
Rebecca Griffiths, Alex Higlett, Simon Bedwell, An Endless Supply, Ellie Harrison, Daryl Waller, Cordelia Cembrowicz, Ella Golt, Laurence Payot, David Sherry, Steven Paige, Jonathan Baron, Eva and Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.ORG, Abigail Reynolds, Mark Pearson, Georgina Hounsome, James&Jones, S Mark Gubb, Low Profile, CMS Research Project, Guy Oliver, Shafiq Dad, Oliver Sutherland, Bruce Asbestos, Sam Venables and Barry Sykes.
