Gotta love Target Thursdays at the ICA.
I finally saw the Shepard Fairey exhibit, it was very enjoyable. I went with two friends from college which was super fun. The ICA is a great place to view art because it has a quality about it that makes you feel like it is ok to talk to someone while you are viewing the pieces on display. We were able to make witty observations and joke around as we took in each piece.
I will start with thanking the ICA for the strong suggestion to use their coat check. Considering the number of people I accidentally bumped into or nearly ran over (it was a little old lady and I did a phenominal job not touching her) when all I had control was myself and a very small purse, I cannot even begin to imagine how how many would have been injured or mad if I was also carrying my long winter coat.
The exhibit was put together wonderfully, there was a nice flow to each of the rooms. One of my friends and I did go counterclockwise around a room where clearly everyone else thought clockwise was the more appropriate direction, we learned from our mistake in the following room and went with the stream. Going with the group does make viewing much easier and reduces the odds of running into another patron.
For many of the pieces newspaper clippings were the base. We got into the habit of getting close to the murals to see if we could read the headlines that were hidden underneath. (Of cou
rse, I should disclose that when we first entered I laughed at a woman who almost had her nose next to one of the images and about 2 minutes later I was just as close. It was not left unnoticed by my companions) Pictures commenting on oil would often have headlines referring to gas prices or oil crises. In the sunglasses of a dictator I found an image of a skull from an anatomy book, and there was another piece that had maps of major cities - we were fairly certain that they were of NYC and London. The technique he has is just amazing, there is a clear message when one stands afar, and the message only intensifies when you can get close enough to see the hidden words and phrase. Don't get me wrong some of the stuff has nothing to do with overarching theme...like maps, scores for the Syracuse sports team or vocabulary pages from a Japanese elementary school book.
I did not realize how often Fairey put the Obey stencil in his work. When we were in the music room, it was like we were playing "where's waldo?" with the word "obey" and the andre stencil as they were in all of them, you just had to look.
At one point we noticed that there was tour group that was behind us. They would showed up in a room just as we had just about two more pieces to look at so fortunately we didn't have to deal with listening to the guides shpeal. Tour guides can be brilliant or awful. Not particularly sure where this one fell. What I do know is that she asked the group if they knew who the portrait was of that was up near the ceiling.
It was Muhammad Ali.
There is no question of this, Shepard Fairey does not do abstract, but she kept asking. At first I thought she was desperate for interaction with the group until she responded to an individual who correctly identified the man by saying "Muhammad Ali, oh yes, I wasn't sure if that was him or not". You would think the tour guide would be familiar with the pieces in the room AND be able to identify someone like Muhammad Ali...
Anyway, at that time my friends and I turned to look at the HOPE poster with Obama - it is WAY cooler in real life - and at that moment the guide explained "this room is filled with freedom fighters and freedom oppressors". At that I did bust out a laugh. My friend totally understood as he quickly replied "it's all how you view the individual". Hey, I like Obama, but I know not everyone does...
Really, you should go see the exhibit. Thursdays are free!
