It has been suggested that political concerns make for a lesser
form of art. These sorts of blanket statements, left over from the
heady days of late Modernism, carry with them the assertion that
great art undeniably refers to itself and anything topical, social
or political must be retrograde. Although this dictum has softened
over time, there was good reason for it. There remains a sub-genre
of artist these days that admits to being overtly political and
this is often a warning sign that the art is sub-par and subjugated
to making statements. After all, activism need not be art. Nick
Cassway is not one of these artists. Neither is he jumping on the
9/11 bandwagon where art and therapy merge. Cassway has chosen a
specific area of contemporary life to examine with his particular
brand of "objective" and unconventional printmaking techniques
and gives it a hard-hitting accuracy so that his work cannot be
confused with the mushier form of political grandstanding. Gravitating
from an earlier series of celebrity mug shot portraits like Britney
Spears, Cassway has found a more fertile use for his investigations
of popular culture. By collecting various media personalities, government
officials and terrorists alike and mixing them together on a over-size
color-form type gameboard, he has consciously created a metaphor
which is remarkably resonate of the real world while commenting
on the secondary subject of news gathering and dissemination. The
most obvious take points to the hijacked nature of the news which,
purporting to be journalistic truth, is clearly used in a political
way. Although a toy-like delivery is utilized, the connections made
while viewing the heroes/culprits is alarming. One immediately thinks,
"the enemy is us" and the term blowback seems the best
word to describe our overall predicament. A small cement image of
Timothy McVeigh watches quietly from the side of the room as we
work this out.
The Supreme Court piece
is subtler and runs deeper. The voting record of the judges since
the 2000 election is illustrated here with each head representing
a respective judge on the wall in either red or blue depending
on which president appointed them. Stating facts visually in this
way allows certain truths to emerge unencumbered by rhetoric.
The window of Nexus is fully occupied
by the see-through heads in a mockingly cheerful colored arrangement.
Only on closer examination does the passer-by pick up on the more
ominous inference. A helpful xeroxed handout serves as a who's
who. Is this humorous display also an accurate summation of the
American psyche, which somehow embodies a deep seeded desire to
laugh at the most difficult things? Here, Cassway celebrates oversimplification
and misapprehensions of the present day political situation as
viewed by the public through the media. Stick one of Cassway's
see-through Colin Powells in the back window of your SUV! Now,
that's patriotism with a twist. In the end, Cassway proves that
dissent is not dead and concludes that democracy without dissent
is not democracy. The decision to include work by John Heartfield
in the back room serves to remove the buffer of humor from the
show and this association imbues Cassway's deliberately lighter
work with a serious intention that might have been overlooked
by the viewer. It is a sad thing that this voice of common sense
is not heard more loudly.
-James Rosenthal, November 2002 |
