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Indepth Arts News:
"David Byrne"
2000-01-29 until 2000-04-02
Contemporary Arts Center
Cincinnati, OH,
USA United States of America
Advertising imagery can be quite potent. Artist
David Byrne understands the often deceptive
subtleties of media. At the Contemporary Arts
Center, large-scale, backlit photographs from
Byrne's Better Living Through Chemistry series
depict tranquil scenes overlaid with
self-actualization slogans and images of drug
paraphernalia. The Stairway to Heaven series
portrays various international currencies
intertwined with weapons. Both series ironically
combine mainstream ideals with common
modern vices.
Offering
an audio
tour of the
photos, a
headset
provides a
unique
soundtrack
to the
exhibit. The sound piece, titled Your
Action World, is described by The New
York Times as an insinuating mix of
self-actualization blather, corporate
sloganeering, New Age fantasy and
inspirational music. Through the use of
these two mediums - photography and sound - Byrne has produced a wry
critique of mass media and today's culture.
Having studied at the Rhode
Island School of Design and
the Maryland Institute College
of Art in the 1970s, Byrne did
not begin to exhibit until the
1990s; now his work is shown
in galleries all over the world.
He is best known as the
musician who co-founded the
influential rock band the
Talking Heads (1976-88). Like
his music, Byrne's
photographic and sound
installations combine layers of
text and spoken word, as well
as imagery, culled from
popular sources. Both his
music and visual art prompt
viewers and listeners to look at the world from a new perspective.
The exhibition is organized by the Contemporary Arts Center.
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