Traveling exhibition

KEEP IT SLICK

Infiltrating Capitalism with The Yes Men

Curated by Astria Suparak

Organized by Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University
+ Feldman Gallery at Pacific Northwest College of Art

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

The Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University and the Feldman Gallery at Pacific Northwest College of Art are proud to present the first major exhibition of renowned artist group the Yes Men. “Keep It Slick: Infiltrating Capitalism with the Yes Men” will run September 4 through October 26, 2008 at the PNCA in Portland and November 14, 2008 through February 15, 2009 at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. Each exhibition features a workshop and lecture by the Yes Men titled “How To Be A Yes Man,” with preview clips of their upcoming feature-length film, to be released next year.

“The Yes Men are among the most visible and effective activist-artists of our time, reaching countless people through websites, newspapers, and television broadcasts,” said Astria Suparak, curator of Keep It Slick. “Over the past decade they have fearlessly taken on the world’s biggest corporations and bureaucracies. Infiltrating the elite realm of the influential and the moneyed, cloaked in the sheerest layer of authority–thrift-store suits, quick-print business cards, forged press releases–these social activators urge us to question where ethics belong in our capitalist-driven society.”

The Yes Men have gained international acclaim and notoriety for exposing dehumanizing business practices and helping to keep critical issues in the international spotlight. They do this through impersonating representatives of powerful corporations and government organizations such as ExxonMobil, McDonald’s, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Yes Men’s famed hoaxes include a phony George W. Bush website celebrating the unsavory details of the then-Presidential candidate, and the false announcement of the World Trade Organization’s dissolution in order to shift focus to helping the poor.

Co-organized by the Feldman Gallery at Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University, Keep It Slick exhibits the Yes Men’s practice with elaborate costumes, slapstick videos, outrageous posters, and selections from their personal collection. Though their sociopolitical pranks have been widely publicized, they have never been presented on such a large scale.

“This survey represents the first-ever solo exhibition of the Yes Men. Here you can walk into a re-creation of their past exploits in the Conference area, witness a comically apocalyptic future, and pay your respects to a janitor who generously donated his body to satisfy our insatiable energy needs. In the Executive Board Room, you may browse through the Yes Men’s personal office items and orate along to their absurd PowerPoint presentations,” Suparak said.

ABOUT THE YES MEN

The Yes Men have gained international notoriety for impersonating World Trade Organization spokesmen on international TV and at business conferences around the world. They describe what they do as Identity Correction. Unlike Identity Theft, which criminals practice with dishonest intent, Identity Correction is the art of impersonating a powerful criminal to publicly humiliate them for conspiring against the public good. Their targets have included big bad bureaucracies like the World Trade Organization, nasty world leaders such as George Bush, ugly right-wing think tanks like The Heritage Foundation, and heartless corporations such as Dow Chemical. www.theyesmen.org

ABOUT THE FELDMAN GALLERY AT PNCA

Dedicated to bringing national and international contemporary artists to Portland, the Feldman Gallery at Pacific Northwest College of Art showcases stellar artists who fully participate in a collaborative creative dialogue that includes studio visits, gallery talks and culminates in a public First Thursday opening. The Feldman Gallery is enriched through the College's partnerships with leading artistic and educational institutions including an on-going collaboration between the College and PICA’s TBA Festival, which in 2008 brings to the Gallery the culture-jamming activists The Yes Men. www.pnca.edu/exposure/feldman

ABOUT THE MILLER GALLERY AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY

The Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University supports the creation, understanding and growth of contemporary art through exhibitions, projects, lectures, events and publications. The gallery aspires to engage diverse audiences and to create and strengthen communities through art and ideas. A unit of the College of Fine Arts, the three-story, 9,000 square foot space is free and open to the public and located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. www.cmu.edu/millergallery

PAST PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Nov. 14 – Feb. 15, 2009

· Nov. 14, 5-6pm: How To Be A Yes Man Workshop with preview film clips, Carnegie Mellon School of Art Lecture Series.

· Nov. 14, 6-8pm: Business Casual Reception

· Dec. 4, Thurs. 8pm: The Yes Men Movie
Pittsburgh Filmmakers, Melwood Screening Room.

Tour Schedule

Sept. 4 – Oct. 26, 2008
Feldman Gallery at Pacific Northwest College of Art, in conjunction with PICA’s Time Based Art Festival 2008, Portland, OR

Nov. 14, 2008 – Feb. 15, 2009
Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

Sept. 23 - Oct. 25, 2009
Abandon Normal Devices: Festival of New Cinema and Digital Culture, with Art & Design Academy, Liverpool John Moores University and FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology), Liverpool, UK

April 30 - June 5, 2010
DiverseWorks Artspace, Houston, TX

Sept. - Oct. 2010
Glass Curtain Gallery, Columbia College, Chicago, IL

To inquire about exhibition availability, contact as@cmu.edu