Politics « Arrested Motion

Tag Archives: Politics

Banksy Funded Refugee Rescue Boat

Posted by sleepboy, September 7, 2020

As an outspoken critic of EU policies towards the migrant crisis, Banksy has decided to take matters into his own hands. Redirecting some of the proceeds from his art sales, the elusive artist has purchased a former French Navy boat and converted it to a rescue boat for refugees in the Mediterranean (now captained by Pia Klemp and crewed by a team of rescue professionals drawn from across Europe). The MV Louise Michel has been painted over with the infamous street artist’s instantly recognizable Girl With Balloon image, with the […]

BLM: Haroshi x HUF

Posted by sleepboy, June 7, 2020

Unfortunately, the looting that happened in Los Angeles did not leave artwork unscathed in certain locations. The iconic Haroshi (featured) middle finger sculpture that stood as the centerpiece at the HUF store since 2015 was damaged in the chaos of that weekend. The piece created from skateboard decks, as is the usual practice by the Japanese artist, has always stood as symbol of “fuck you” – a FU to “oppressors, to injustice, to violence, to racism, to authority, to inequality, and to anyone or anything working […]

BLM: Banksy

Posted by sleepboy, June 7, 2020

With the sad events that have seem to have brought the United States to a tipping point recently, many artists have use their art to make their views known. One of these hails from the other side of the pond, from perhaps the most infamous street artist of all – Banksy. He recently posted up a striking image along with the words below… “At first I thought I should just shut up and listen to black people about this issue. But why would I do […]

Jammie Holmes – “George Floyd” Public Sky Banner Demonstration

Posted by sleepboy, June 5, 2020

Last weekend, Jammie Holmes initiated an art demonstration (with support from Library Street Collective) in five cities in the United States (Detroit, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York) that flew banners with George Floyd’s last words across the skies. With this highly visible and powerful presentation, the artist’s form of protest was meant to bring people together in their shared incense at the inhumane treatment of American citizens. He further explains – “With this demonstration, I hope that people across the United States will use […]

David Choe – “Transform Hate 2 Love Using Art”

Posted by sleepboy, June 5, 2020

Grappling with PTSD from the current state of the world and his experiences from the riots of 1992, David Choe (featured) recently shared a series of new works on his instagram. Using abstract expressionism as a form of therapy and catharsis, the artist who grew up in Los Angeles channeled his pain and anger into gestural pieces that featured fighting opponents which he turned upside down and transformed into kissing faces. Watch the video for more details and to get a glimpse of his state of mind. […]

Publications: Barbara Kruger x New York Magazine Cover

Posted by sleepboy, November 3, 2016

For their election issue, New York Magazine turned to someone who they had worked with in the past, Barbara Kruger, to design the cover. Utilizing a variation of what is arguably her most iconic text-based work, the influential artist pasted a large red bar with the word “LOSER” across the face of Donald Trump. If interested, head over to NY mag here to read about the four ways they felt this image would be interpreted. Discuss Barbara Kruger here.

Previews: “Why I Want to Fuck Donald Trump” @ Joshua Liner Gallery

Posted by sleepboy, October 11, 2016

On October 13th, Joshua Liner Gallery will be opening a group show entitled Why I Want to Fuck Donald Trump, a title inspired by JG Ballard’s 1967 essay Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan. Curated by Alfred Steiner (who himself contributed grotesque portraits of the candidates created from pornographic images of male and female genitalia in his typical piecemeal style), the exhibition will be sort of a visual discussion of the historic satirical essay but applied to the 2016 presidential election. Exhibiting artists include Aaron Johnson, Alfred […]

Patrick Martinez – “Po-lice Misconduct Misprint Folders” Giveaway

Posted by sleepboy, April 15, 2016

You may recall that at the end of last year, we shared with you a new series of works from Patrick Martinez that are a riff on the Pee Chee Folders of the ’70s and ’80s. These paintings bring back feelings of nostalgia when we think back to our adolescence, but when examined more closely, we see that the Los Angeles-based artist has replaced the high school-age students engaged in sports or other activities with images of police brutality and portraits of victims we have all seen in the […]

Ai Weiwei Poses As Drowned Syrian Child Alan Kurdi

Posted by sleepboy, February 4, 2016

The disturbing photo of the Syrian child Alan Kurdi laying drowned on the beach has become an a rallying point for those concerned about the refugee crisis. Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei recently posed as the boy for a photograph shot by Rohit Chawla for an upcoming issue of one of India’s largest news publications – India Today. AWW has spent much time visiting the refugee camps and has been bringing attention to the situation in many other ways including recently canceling an exhibition in Copenhagen after […]

Streets: Brandalism / COP21 (Paris)

Posted by SAL, November 30, 2015

The Brandalism project started in 2012 in London when two friends, sick of the visual pollution of their city, spent five days reclaiming 36 billboards in five cities in the UK. Two years later, we saw reclamation of over 360 corporate advertising spaces with hand made original art works submitted by 40 international artists. This year, on the 28th December, The United Nations 21st ‘Conference of Parties’ aka Cop21 was the perfect backdrop for their biggest project to date. 600 posters were installed in outdoor media […]