Zhang Hongtu, Monet, Study of Pi Ma Ts’un and Jie So Ts’un, oil on canvas, 2007.
Chinese art group ‘Polit-Sheer-Form Office’ asks what that collectivity means today in China in light of trends toward individualism and consumption. Here, in a painting at their Queens Museum show, they riff on Cultural Revolution propaganda posters that featured happy workers gathering around Mao, substituting themselves cheerfully tucking into a communal dish. (Through March 18th).
Polit-Sheer-Form Office, Polit-Sheer-Form-16, oil on canvas, 2007.
Rather be in the Caribbean? The next best thing might be seeing ‘Caribbean: Crossroads of the World,’ a 200 year survey of visual culture from the islands at three NYC museums. At the Queens Museum, highlights include videos like ‘Complete Structure,’ by David Perez Karmadavis. Here, a blind Dominican man carries a handicapped Haitian woman through busy streets to allude to the relationship between their neighboring countries. Though reminiscent of Francis Alys on Mexico City streets, Karmadavis’s video captivates by concentrating on the dynamic between this unlikely duo. Watch the video on Vimeo. (Also at the Studio Museum in Harlem through Oct 21st and El Museo del Barrio through Jan 6th.)
