"AMERIKKKA"

group show curated by raul zamudio
cover artist:riiko sakkinen
title:taco shit
january 19 - february 16, 2007

the:artist:network is pleased to announce the exhibition AMERIKKKA. The exhibition1s title is culled verbatim from a CD recorded by Ice Cube after he left the highly influential gangster rap group N. W. A. But the show is more than homage to one of the most compelling rap recordings of all time; for the title is used as foil to explore the notion of America by artists who work within the U.S. and abroad regardless of nationality. The transnational dimension of the exhibition is partially inspired by some of the most poignant observations of America that have come, for instance, from foreigners including the nineteenth-century historian Alexis De Tocqueville, the poststructuralist philosopher Jean Baudrillard, and the contemporary filmmaker Lars Von Trier. The ways in which the artists individually approach the exhibition1s theme via video, photography, sculpture, painting, electronic media and works-on-paper is highly diverse, eclectic and personal. Some mine the myth and reality of America by focusing on recent issues of a political and social nature. Other artists address historical topics, while others still create work that is purely based on fiction and the imaginary. The exhibition distinguishes itself from current shows such as the Uncertain States of America, for example, by including artists from beyond the U.S. in order to offer a rich perspective on America and the myriad emotions that it engenders from within and without including fear,despair, hope, admiration, hatred and love.

Artists:
Domingo Sanchez Blanco/Spain, Robert Boyd/U.S.,
Cleverson/U.S./Brazil, Alejandro Diaz/U.S., Solange
Fabio/U.S./Brazil, Anthony Goicolea/U.S./Cuba, Gosia
Koscielak/U.S./Poland, Ghariokwu Lemi/Nigeria, Scott
Lifshutz/U.S., Ferran Martin/U.S./Spain, Emma
McCagg/U.S, Angel Nevarez/U.S/Mexico, Yasira
Nun/U.S./Puerto Rico, Dan Perrone/U.S., Riiko
Sakkinen/Spain/Finland, Sanchez Brothers/Canada, Fiona
Smyth/Canada, Richard Stipl/Canada, Matt Tackett/U.S.,
Michael Tong/U.S./China, Roi Vaara/Finland, Roberto
Visani/U.S./Italy