2008-2009 ~ Anthony Stephenson
For one week in 1980, "Silver," "Gold," and "Drawing" were displayed in the viewing gallery of the Pacific Stock Exchange in downtown Los Angeles, California. "Silver" and "Gold" were made in response to a news item about how someone named Bucky Hunt was trying to corner the silver market by buying it up. With the United States having recently gone off the gold standard, this story made the evening news. Soon after this exhibition, the country began to witness a further dismantling of tried and true economic structures. What George Bush (senior) labeled as "voodoo economics" became known as the "Trickle-Down Theory." Part of the idea was that if the rich were allowed to get richer (while the poor got poorer), they would spread the wealth as they see fit. It was during this period that we also saw the growth of a new medium called the Internet. Not only was there talk of a new economy, but with the amazing growth of free content on the web, the subject of gift economies were often written about.
Jump to the Christmas of 2008. The world economy is in the worst condition since the Great Depression. George Bush (junior), the latest purveyor of "Trickle-Down", has been voted out of office. I thought that I was about to finish my latest set of prints and paintings called "Trickle," but since I have no deadline, I decide to redo two of the paintings. Everything is framed and finished by April.
These works are based on images found on the Internet. They are pictures of gifts in their wrapping which have been brought into Photoshop and pixellated for the male characters and layered and softened for the females. The names are based on the top five philannthropists of 2008. So now I wonder: Is there a suitable place to display these works at, say, a U.S. Treasury Building?
Click here for an online preview of "Trickle".
Anthony Stephenson 2009 - email - online gallery
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