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"Reveille"
New Works by Chris Mars
Exhibition: November 18 – December 30, 2006
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 18th, 7-10 pm
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to return to the exhibtion.
Chris Mars
Artist Statement
I learned it first from my Brother. He didn’t teach me; I watched it.
They will pin a word on your chest and use it against you. They will create
a word that’s excuse to take your humanity away. I saw it happen to
him.
And everyday, this: A word to make you serve, and one to make grateful for
it. There is a label out there just for you. This will make you easier to
categorize, and sell to. There is a word for the man next to you that makes
you comfortable with the fact that you have so much more than he does. There
is a word for you that tells you what to settle for.
There are the voiceless, who cannot speak for themselves. These are the easiest
ones to shrink down. There are words for the non-conformers, simple words
that can be quickly acknowledged by those that buy in. Crazy. Faggot. Gang.
Rich. One is sinful, one is lazy, one is violent by nature and one is always,
always good enough.
It’s such a precious thing that no one wants you to have it. You can’t
be trusted with it. It’s such a delicate thing that it turns to something
different in different hands. They might bury it but you can dig it up. You
are strong enough for the Truth.
From my hands, my mission: To free the oppressed; to champion the persecuted,
and the submissive; to liberate through revelation the actualized Self in
those proposed by some to have no self at all. It’s in every single
one of us, somewhere underneath that word on our chest.
In my hands, my version: All art is political in some sense, be it through
conformity, reflection, propaganda or rebellion. My paintings are rallies
and trials, photographs of a moment when Truth was made public, and Mercy
known.
Question why a villain is villainized, a victim martyred. Ask why a group
is demonized, and the motives for control. See for yourself what the truth
looks like in your hands. Dig it up and hold it for a while.
This work you see, it’s my Truth. But please don’t take my word
for it.
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