Generic Art Solutions
One Hot Month
2002-2014

Name: One Hot Month
Brand: Generic Art Solutions
Price: 31250 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

medium: silkscreen on photogram Generic Art Solutions (G.A.S.) is the collaborative efforts of Matt Vis and Tony Campbell. This New Orleans-based art duo utilizes nearly every art medium as they examine the recurring themes of human drama and the (dis)functions of contemporary society. Always rooted in the performative, they play every character in their work. In their more distilled “duets” we see something of a yin and yang (a balance between individuals that aren’t quite interchangeable), but in their more elaborate stagings, the resultant effect is as epic as the subject matter itself. By combining Classical, Romantic, and Baroque compositional elements with contemporary pictorial techniques, they manage to illuminate the common thread that connects past histories with current events. This strategy creates something of a “Déjà Vu effect” that is driven by drama and surrealism with traces of levity. In this dialogue between the past and present the viewer realizes several things: 1) that the history of art is inextricably political, 2) that human behavior repeats itself no matter how tragic or brutal, and 3) that this cycle of repetition must be broken so personal and societal progress can be made. Despite all this, their work contains a glimmer of hope--a hope that through thoughtful examination (and armed with a commitment to change) we can indeed forge a better future. Generic Art Solutions (G.A.S) has also exhibited their work in numerous museums, galleries and art fairs. In 2010, the duo mounted a solo exhibition at the New Orleans Museum of Art entitled Déjà Vu All Over Again. Their most recent solo exhibition circa: now was on view at Jonathan Ferrara Gallery in December 2013. In 2014, The duo will be participating in a group show Fútbol: The Beautiful Game curated by Franklin Sirmans (Prospect.3 Biennial Director) at Los Angeles County Museum of Art which will include work by: Ai Weiwei, Paul Pfeiffer, Vik Muniz, Lyle Ashton Harris, Andy Warhol, Nelson Leirner, Andreas Gursky, Gabriel Orozco, Sam Taylor-Wood, Kelly Barrie, Kehinde Wiley, Mark Bradford, Jedediah Caesar, Chris Beas, Generic Art Solutions (Matt Vis and Tony Campbell), Liz Glynn, Karl Haendel, and Drew Heitzler. Also in 2014, G.A.S will be showing ten photographs in an exhibition at ZACHĘTA National Gallery of Art in Warsaw, Poland with artists including: Mike Kelly, Janine Antoni, and Paul Pfeiffer. Their work is in several notable collections including: New Britain Museum of American Art, New Orleans Museum of Art, and noted curator Dan Cameron. statement "As the temperature climbs throughout the sweltering summer months in New Orleans, tempers flare, causing street crime and homicide numbers to jump dramatically. As the days go on and the temperature rises, it becomes common for citizens to read about death by gunshot almost daily. Many of us find ourselves frantically looking for familiar faces in the obituaries, if only to confirm the senseless tragedy of a loved one or neighbor who has fallen victim to gun violence. It is a bitter reality that when young men grow up in a culture flooded with guns, hotheaded youths settle their grievances with lead, not fists. But gang violence and drug deals gone bad don’t account for all of these killings-there are many innocent victims as well. Babies are born innocent, but all too often they are born into dangerous and volatile environments. How, then, can these children be protected from their surroundings? Family? Religion? More guns? The genesis of “One Hot Month” was initially an attempt to simply chronicle our environment by clipping the obituaries of “death by gunshot” victims during August 2002, when there was nearly one homicide per day. Their photographs, often outdated and blurry, immediately took the appearance of faded memories. They were hastily catalogued victims of an impulsive action; they were shot and killed in a heated moment-done and gone forever. But we felt these events shouldn’t be swept under the rug so easily. To us, these images represent the need for an examination of the roots of this terminal societal dysfunction. For this exhibition, each victim’s picture was silkscreened in gloss black on a unique photogram of a broken handgun recovered from a citywide buyback program. This combines a shadowy effect on something of an x-ray, resulting in 27 haunting memorials laid out as days of the tragic calendar month in which they died. Here, the victims’ likenesses refuse to fade from a broken society threatened to be held captive by the increasingly impulsive actions of heavily armed and troubled youths."

Creator:

Generic Art Solutions (1965-, American)

Creation Year:

2002-2014

Dimensions:

Height: 49 in (124.46 cm)Width: 84.5 in (214.63 cm)

Movement & Style:

Contemporary

Period:

2010-

Condition:

Gallery Location: