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Shara Mercado Poole
Professional Artist. Unemployed Philosopher. Amateur Puppeteer.
Art & Politics Inside Capitalism
From working class to super star, artists find themselves uniquely positioned within the capitalist framework. Their labor blurs the boundaries of class distinction and can be wielded powerfully to promote systemic change or reinforce the elitist status quo. Like an honest mirror, art lets us see all our imperfections, contradictions, and brutal truths. This exchange is meant to be an exploration of how the value of art and artists function within our contemporary social framework- from emerging local artist, to Pinterest mom, to balloon dog millionaire.
Participating Artists:
Alanna Austin
Jared Barbick
Marie Dixon
Nicole Ellis
Amy Foltz
Matthew Hopson-Walker
Mario Kiran
the Mayor
Shara Mercado Poole
Tonyefa Oyake
Patricia Phare-Camp
Sage Stanley
Vickie Tran
An Truong
Summer Ventis
Claire White
Click on images below to enlarge & find more info about each artist:
Jared Barbick - American Democracy
screen print - 14" x 11"
“ABOUT THE PRINT: (Two color screen print) This print addresses the racism and corruption that persists within the American justice system. Judges are ever increasingly exemplifying that they are puppets, robots, entities that are controlled by the highest bidder or person with the deepest pockets, or racial power. This piece sadly is emblematic of what the justice system also has been and continues to be - a system engineered for wealthy whites and controlled by wealthy whites. Systematic ethical sterility and overt bias.
ABOUT THE INK: The ink choice resembles money and the silver metallic ink in some lights makes the image almost disappear and in other lights the image is as clear as day. This was intentional. The way the ink works is symbolic of justice working. Visible some of the time and not visible at other times." -Jared Barbick
IG: @jaredbarbick
FB: Jared Barbick
“ABOUT THE PRINT: (Two color screen print) This print addresses the racism and corruption that persists within the American justice system. Judges are ever increasingly exemplifying that they are puppets, robots, entities that are controlled by the highest bidder or person with the deepest pockets, or racial power. This piece sadly is emblematic of what the justice system also has been and continues to be - a system engineered for wealthy whites and controlled by wealthy whites. Systematic ethical sterility and overt bias.
ABOUT THE INK: The ink choice resembles money and the silver metallic ink in some lights makes the image almost disappear and in other lights the image is as clear as day. This was intentional. The way the ink works is symbolic of justice working. Visible some of the time and not visible at other times." -Jared Barbick
IG: @jaredbarbick
FB: Jared Barbick
the Mayor - Consumption of Nature, Enjoy Safely
screen print - 11" x 14"
“The corporation and the consumer act as flip sides of the same coin of how our environment is used for development and consumption. In “Enjoy Safely” I am reminding the consumer of the power they have given these companies by consuming their products and how these corporations have taken advantage of their resources. The damage is not only done by these corporations, but what the consumer does as well with the products that are consumed and discarded into our oceans, landfills, and into our very bloodstream. My hope is that we can find a balance in our modern society to enjoy nature safely with our human innovations, and that our generation can manifest ways to create a solution to our consumption of nature.”
–the Mayor
“The corporation and the consumer act as flip sides of the same coin of how our environment is used for development and consumption. In “Enjoy Safely” I am reminding the consumer of the power they have given these companies by consuming their products and how these corporations have taken advantage of their resources. The damage is not only done by these corporations, but what the consumer does as well with the products that are consumed and discarded into our oceans, landfills, and into our very bloodstream. My hope is that we can find a balance in our modern society to enjoy nature safely with our human innovations, and that our generation can manifest ways to create a solution to our consumption of nature.”
–the Mayor
Matthew Hopson-Walker - Trifling Practice
lithograph on Rives BFK - 11" x 14"
Sage Stanley - Road Closed Coloring Page
screen print on Arches 88 - 11" x 14"
“When thinking of art and capitalism, I thought of manufactured art and how that plays a huge role in our upbringing. The largest role I could think of was children’s coloring books and paint by numbers, as a result I thought to create a colorless version of a recent print I made. The original is about liminal space and the vast possibilities of where the road can take you. While the coloring page is simply a ‘closed road’.”
–Sage Stanley
IG: @lynntil.art and @boba_lynn
“When thinking of art and capitalism, I thought of manufactured art and how that plays a huge role in our upbringing. The largest role I could think of was children’s coloring books and paint by numbers, as a result I thought to create a colorless version of a recent print I made. The original is about liminal space and the vast possibilities of where the road can take you. While the coloring page is simply a ‘closed road’.”
–Sage Stanley
IG: @lynntil.art and @boba_lynn
Alanna Austin - Check Yourself
lithograph and screen print on digital image stitched to Rives BFK with hand painting - 11" x 14"
“While thinking about our politics and capitalism of today, I couldn’t help but think of the non-stop protesting our country has been facing over the past four years. It began the day of inauguration with women marching the streets, to now facing a long-time battle of trying to navigate racism. Because of this, I thought of the final French revolution over the poor finally trying to combat the overpowering rich. I depicted Marie Antoinette holding a glorious mirror that is aimed at the viewer asking each viewer to “Check Yourself” whether that be economic or racial privilege.” – Alanna Austin
IG: @aestheticsimpulse
Email: alannaaustinart@gmail.com
“While thinking about our politics and capitalism of today, I couldn’t help but think of the non-stop protesting our country has been facing over the past four years. It began the day of inauguration with women marching the streets, to now facing a long-time battle of trying to navigate racism. Because of this, I thought of the final French revolution over the poor finally trying to combat the overpowering rich. I depicted Marie Antoinette holding a glorious mirror that is aimed at the viewer asking each viewer to “Check Yourself” whether that be economic or racial privilege.” – Alanna Austin
IG: @aestheticsimpulse
Email: alannaaustinart@gmail.com
Claire White - Original Print (Collector's Item)
screen print - 11" x 14"
“I was inspired by Print Austin having a digital printmaking call that did not allow for digital work. No size limitations, but no digital work. I submitted work I no longer own, but not my digital stuff.” – Claire White
“I was inspired by Print Austin having a digital printmaking call that did not allow for digital work. No size limitations, but no digital work. I submitted work I no longer own, but not my digital stuff.” – Claire White
Marie Dixon - It could have been
screen print on Rives BFK- 14" x 11"
"IUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico The short trek from danger to calm starts before dawn. First, there is the grind of a turnstile total cost: 3 pesos, or 25 cents then thousands of legs push forward, broomlike, onto the Paso del Norte bridge and away from Ciudad Juárez.
It takes about 250 long strides to reach the middle, where the United States begins and the view changes slightly: a large billboard advertising Bud Light, in Spanish, practically blots out the sun.
Most of the 14,000 people here who cross over the Rio Grande daily seem to barely notice. This mound of a bridge, which American officials estimate to be the busiest of all cross-border footpaths between Mexico and the United States, used to be just a simple connector between the shopping districts of Ciudad Juárez and El Paso. But these days, it has deeper meaning."
-Damian Cave, Bridging a Gap Between Fear and Peace
IG: @mdart6151946
FB: Marie Dixon Art
"IUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico The short trek from danger to calm starts before dawn. First, there is the grind of a turnstile total cost: 3 pesos, or 25 cents then thousands of legs push forward, broomlike, onto the Paso del Norte bridge and away from Ciudad Juárez.
It takes about 250 long strides to reach the middle, where the United States begins and the view changes slightly: a large billboard advertising Bud Light, in Spanish, practically blots out the sun.
Most of the 14,000 people here who cross over the Rio Grande daily seem to barely notice. This mound of a bridge, which American officials estimate to be the busiest of all cross-border footpaths between Mexico and the United States, used to be just a simple connector between the shopping districts of Ciudad Juárez and El Paso. But these days, it has deeper meaning."
-Damian Cave, Bridging a Gap Between Fear and Peace
IG: @mdart6151946
FB: Marie Dixon Art
Summer Ventis - Held Breaths III
screen print on Rives BFK - 11" x 14"
“This year has been one long held breath, a time of caution, of waiting, of restraint, of restriction and withdrawal. It has brought new hardships and magnified existing ones. The series Held Breaths imagines the act of physically holding a breath as a meditation of the times in which we fid ourselves, a way of externalizing the tension and fear with which we live. It is both a manifestation of that tension and fear and a release of it. The act of holding breath in this way becomes a gift that we can give ourselves and each other: I offer my held breath to you; I offer to hold your breath for a moment so that you might find a better way to breathe.” – Summer Ventis
IG: @summerventis
“This year has been one long held breath, a time of caution, of waiting, of restraint, of restriction and withdrawal. It has brought new hardships and magnified existing ones. The series Held Breaths imagines the act of physically holding a breath as a meditation of the times in which we fid ourselves, a way of externalizing the tension and fear with which we live. It is both a manifestation of that tension and fear and a release of it. The act of holding breath in this way becomes a gift that we can give ourselves and each other: I offer my held breath to you; I offer to hold your breath for a moment so that you might find a better way to breathe.” – Summer Ventis
IG: @summerventis
Nicole Ellis - Piss/Petals
monotype over cyanotype - 11" x 14"
IG: @clovis_top_sconer
IG: @clovis_top_sconer
Shara Poole - Dead Pretty Things
screen print on Arches 88 - 14" x 11"
“Spider Chrysanthemum: As of late, I have been drawn to the imagery of the spider mum for use within my work. In the U.S. they are commonly used as a lively flower in wedding arrangements. While in Europe, the spider mum is most commonly a funerary flower and associated with death.
Black Crappie: A common sport fish throughout California where I live and one that my father frequently talks about fishing for is the black crappie. The crappie is a North American freshwater fish of the sunfish family. The male crappie builds a nest and guards both the eggs and young.
This print, Dead Pretty Things, a dead crappie on a bed of dichotomous spider mums is a reflection of my ideas surrounding traditional American ideals and how they relate to concepts of art and politics. Sometimes ideas are simply better in theory than in practice and sometimes even the most beautiful of concepts outlive their usefulness."
– Shara Mercado Poole
IG: @shara_was_here
“Spider Chrysanthemum: As of late, I have been drawn to the imagery of the spider mum for use within my work. In the U.S. they are commonly used as a lively flower in wedding arrangements. While in Europe, the spider mum is most commonly a funerary flower and associated with death.
Black Crappie: A common sport fish throughout California where I live and one that my father frequently talks about fishing for is the black crappie. The crappie is a North American freshwater fish of the sunfish family. The male crappie builds a nest and guards both the eggs and young.
This print, Dead Pretty Things, a dead crappie on a bed of dichotomous spider mums is a reflection of my ideas surrounding traditional American ideals and how they relate to concepts of art and politics. Sometimes ideas are simply better in theory than in practice and sometimes even the most beautiful of concepts outlive their usefulness."
– Shara Mercado Poole
IG: @shara_was_here
Mario Kiran - Religious Persecution
color relief - 11" x 14"
Amy Foltz - The King Unleashed the Dogs
HIPPS Relief on Hahnemule copper plate - 14" x 11"
“The roaring lion is not a particular incident, but a subconscious roar from paying attention to too many incidents.
(Please use your inside roar!)”
– Amy Foltz
Email: axfoltz@hotmail.com
“The roaring lion is not a particular incident, but a subconscious roar from paying attention to too many incidents.
(Please use your inside roar!)”
– Amy Foltz
Email: axfoltz@hotmail.com
Patricia Phare Camp - Am I Enough Yet
drypoint etched plexiglass on Stonehenge - 11" x 14"
pretty enough?
rich enough?
loved enough?
famous enough?
good enough?
woman enough?
ENOUGH!
– Patricia Phare-Camp
IG: @pharecamp
Email: patricia@phare-camp.com
pretty enough?
rich enough?
loved enough?
famous enough?
good enough?
woman enough?
ENOUGH!
– Patricia Phare-Camp
IG: @pharecamp
Email: patricia@phare-camp.com
Tonyfa Oyake - Bajillion Dollar Bill
screen print, coffee, tea, acrylic paints and gouache on white tag board - 14" x 11"
"Our society is at a weird, warped and distorted place right now. It’s completely absurd. This absurdity has been part of our environment for a long time and just keeps getting more and more intense. It’s in our schools, our homes, in the streets, in our economy and most blatantly, in our politics, in our discourse.
‘Bajillion Dollar Bill’ takes this ‘absurdity’ and playfully applies it to money, to currency, to a dollar bill. ‘If our cash looked as crazy as our society is right now, what would it look like. This artwork attempts to answer that question."
-Tonyefa Oyake
Email:get.banditcat@yahoo.com
"Our society is at a weird, warped and distorted place right now. It’s completely absurd. This absurdity has been part of our environment for a long time and just keeps getting more and more intense. It’s in our schools, our homes, in the streets, in our economy and most blatantly, in our politics, in our discourse.
‘Bajillion Dollar Bill’ takes this ‘absurdity’ and playfully applies it to money, to currency, to a dollar bill. ‘If our cash looked as crazy as our society is right now, what would it look like. This artwork attempts to answer that question."
-Tonyefa Oyake
Email:get.banditcat@yahoo.com
An Truong - 2020 The Year of the Great Plague
linocut on rice paper - 11" x 14"
“The year 2020 has been a very wild ride for most people around the world. With COVID-19 rampant, we have all been forced to isolate ourselves in order to prevent the spread of the virus. Everyone has had to compromise their daily lives and near-future plans for the safety of society. However, if there is one thing this year has proven, it is that not even a global lockdown can prevent ignorance, bigotry, and violence. My heart goes out to all those whose voices and lives were taken from them; be it form the virus, or from police brutality.” –An Truong
IG: @an.art.ist
Email: antruong.art@gmail.com
“The year 2020 has been a very wild ride for most people around the world. With COVID-19 rampant, we have all been forced to isolate ourselves in order to prevent the spread of the virus. Everyone has had to compromise their daily lives and near-future plans for the safety of society. However, if there is one thing this year has proven, it is that not even a global lockdown can prevent ignorance, bigotry, and violence. My heart goes out to all those whose voices and lives were taken from them; be it form the virus, or from police brutality.” –An Truong
IG: @an.art.ist
Email: antruong.art@gmail.com
Vickie Tran - Two Girls Walking
aquatint etching on Stonehenge - 11" x 14"
Email: tranvickie00@gmail.com
Email: tranvickie00@gmail.com
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