30
Oct
Star Crossed: A Gruesome Exercise in Patriotism
by Diane Ozanich
0 Comments | Posted by thatgirl in Amuse Me, Sit Back
Artist Aaron Johnson offers a scintillating and titillating peephole into the filthy love affair of church and state with his latest show, Star Crossed, at the Stefan Stux Gallery in New York City. Frustrated by the challenge of making a direct statement through the subtleties of his previous artwork, he set out to boldly proclaim his dissatisfaction with the current political climate.
Johnson’s aim is true as he spears the heart of the traditional American myth, revealing gritty undertones of secret political lust. Startling and disturbing in content, yet strangely appealing with bright colors and plastic-y sheen, his work effects like a moth to a flame. It’s nearly impossible to tear your eyes away from the shocking images of a bloody and vindictive Christ brutally defiling an eager Lady Liberty, a clownish Uncle Sam parading on his hog-tied camel, or a demonic yet haloed George W. seasoning his ghoulish dinner with the Crucifix and the Statue of Liberty.
It takes a moment for the viewer’s eyes to manage to focus on the most controversial element of all: each of these images is clinging to an actual American Flag stretched as its canvas. This brings us to the heart of this provocative exhibit, the very fabric of which it is made. To some, defiling a flag is an inexcusable act,
but as an icon in the greater world around us it has come to represent a shameful savagery wreaked clumsily by President Bush, a man who claims to be led by God. Johnson merely turns on the floodlights, exposing the stains, the flaws weaving in and out of the conscious and unconscious American identity.
A surprisingly poignant undertow pulls beneath the glaring accusations, a longing for the mythical promise of “truth, justice, and the American way” meaning something honest and pure. Appropriately timed before the most highly anticipated presidential election, I wonder if patriotism is anything more than a buzzword on a soapbox. Is it merely a waking dream, ethereal and intangible, a trick of smoke and mirrors? Or is everyone who is born on American soil, under so many stars and stripes, a patriot by default? And each American a canvas whose opinions, beliefs, triumphs and failures all splatter across our collective union, swirling and bleeding together until the original is obliterated? Perhaps the real melting pot is not a melting pot at all, but rather more like Johnson’s abstract pieces: a dynamic explosion of life’s fluids resulting in a metaphoric Big Bang that leaves us like so much flotsam waiting to reform into something new and wonderful.
As I ponder this, it becomes clear that though the title of the show Star Crossed, is less about an affair between church and state and more about the meaning of the physical stars and stripes. Referencing Romeo and Juliet, the star-crossed lovers could very well be the American people and their motherland; doomed to be separated by the greed of corporate lobbyists and overreaching politicians. With our current status and history it would certainly be easier to drink the poison and put America out of her misery, laying her out with a lover’s kiss. However, the sins of our fathers will not be so easily eradicated. We must boldly look into the eye of our gluttony and obscenity and choose to change. Our nation is lucky to have artists like Aaron Johnson, who illuminate such notions and challenge popular believe.
Check out Aaron Johnson and his revolutionary technique “reverse-painted acrylic polymer peel painting” at www.aaronjohnsonart.com