show reviews

* please send local press reviews of the shows, photographs, comments and related information to animaltrap@yahoo.com

(below is a letter from the Label Gallery in Winnipeg that hosted the show in April, 2003. The opening night crowd was attended by over 400 people! The show hosts went above and beyond . WINNIPEG RULES!!!)

"On behalf of the people of Winnipeg, and the Label Gallery and its artists and supporters, we would like to extend our appreciation for your wonderful show, which we recently enjoyed for several weeks.

During the run of your show, hundreds of Winnipegers were witness to vital and gripping art which is truly world-class in scope. Each and every work in the show was appreciated, and each work received widespread viewing and positive reviews. In addition to a strong contingent of the local resistance community, members of the media, artists and average Winnipegers were exposed to an uncompromising message of geo-political realities, including some very uncomfortable and thought-provoking ones.

The run of your show in our city had a number of positive spin-offs, both for the city and the show itself. In addition to funds being raised which allowed the show’s local curators to build crates to house the art for the remainder of its tour, a number of Winnipeg artists were able to showcase their work alongside internationally renowned work. This resulted in favorable coverage in the local media, as well as allowing local political artists a venue to reach a wide audience.

Your beautiful and powerful art, and the spirit in which it was created, have reached and touched scores of people whom you’ve never met."

Thank you.

Regards,

Dan Saidman

James Culleton

Lorne Roberts

A Label for Artists

Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Label Mandate:

To be a community of artists dedicated to promoting, preserving and supporting the arts as a central factor behind the quality of life of all the people of MB.
To establish and maintain a commitment to emerging artists.
To place contemporary artists in a larger cultural context.

(below is an email from an upset visitor to the Drawing Resistance show that was displayed at the Student Union Art Lounge at the University of Michigan. The show hosted by the Radical Art Series was particularly interesting because it reached a broad audience and did not preach to the converted-as evident from the letter below!)

As a veteran of the United States Navy and alumnus of the University of Michigan, I return frequently to the Michigan Union where I spent many hours studying while pursuing my B.A. in political science and communication (Class of 1997). Within the Michigan Union, the art study lounge is one of my favorite places to spend time. I find it invigorating to immerse myself in a college campus notorious for educating some of the hardest working and brightest minds in the Country.

Over the years the art study lounge has displayed myriad of exhibits chronicling various social and political issues of the time. I can recall being deeply moved by one such exhibit that featured the paintings of incest survivors. It was painful to read the narratives accompanying many of the paintings. Similarly, it was painful to view the above collage that bears your name—but for much different reasons.

With regard to your plagiarized manipulation of a combat photograph in which you have superimposed the corporate logos of several multinational energy companies on the back of the vest of what appears to be a United States soldier in an effort to make a political statement about our Country’s energy policy, consider the following:

1. The real art here was the fact that a combat photographer likely risked his life to take the photograph—I’d like to see you go to an active combat zone to take your own photographs.

2. The soldier in the photograph may have been killed in the service of his Country.

3. The soldier in the photograph is the reason why people like you have the right to live in a country free of dictators where every citizen is guaranteed the Constitutional right of due process under law.

The young men and women of the United States Armed Forces risk their lives defending this Country so that extreme left wing liberals like you can have the right to disseminate your anti-American propaganda. If you don’t like the foreign policy of the United States, might I suggest that you leave and take residence in Iraq. That way, you can superimpose images of gassed Kurdish mothers holding their babies in a death embrace onto Saddam Hussein’s photographs. Now that would be a worthy cause. Of course, it’ll never happen because pussies like you would never have the courage to undertake such a selfless and meaningful act. People like you would rather hang out at Starbucks sipping your double mocha lattés while complaining about how unfair life is.

Account of Drawing Resistance, Providence Opening Reception; Friday June 7, 2002 at Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE)

On this evening, the community room at DARE was full of people and loud with friendly conversation. At least fifty people came over the two plus hours to see the show and eat great homemade food. The crowd was diverse in ethnicity, age, and politics -- a beautiful sight in the surroundings of powerful art. Many members of DARE’s “Behind the Walls” prison committee were present with a cake to celebrate a victory in their work for Rhode Island prisoner’s rights and well-being. I also introduced the newest publication of the Nor’easter -- Providence’s anarchist-run newspaper: a broadsheet on the Providence police and alternative’s to their corrupt, racist operations. A bit later, hip hop poet and DARE worker, John Mahone, stepped up and opened a session of word performance with three strong political/cultural pieces. Joel from New Bedford, Mass followed, then Ghislaine amazed us with feminine power and poetry sprinkled with song. Kareem Caines freestyled on his feeling of the “positive vibes” of this gathering. Many attending wrote supportive and inspired comments in the handmade sign-in book. This space was truly ours in creativity, colors, and resistance. Up the Rebels, the Artists! Many thanks to the sweeties who got the show up and made the reception happen so well: Mimi, Fletch, Tara, Beatrice, Mary, Beth, Neal, Sue Ellen, Sara, and Geoff for driving the show from Boston. Dave P. with Love & Resistance

The Boston show was an adventure from the start. Unable to secure a ride to transport the show from Philadelphia to Boston, the show was put on the Amtrak in Philadelphia the night before the show was to open in Boston. The next morning, the Boston hosts from the Festival del Pueblo went to the station to pick up the art work but... the boxes hadn't made it!!!!....and Amtrak had no idea where the shipment was!!!!! Latter on in the day, we learned that it had been mistakenly taken off the train in New York City and it wouldn't arrive until the next day. The art was safe and sound, but it did miss the opening reception at the Arlington Street Church, a famous progressive church and meeting space for over two centuries. The show was hung the next day at the Lucy Parsons Center where it resided for the month of May. The Lucy Parson's Center is one of the more impressive info shop/radical bookstores in the US and is located at 549 Columbus Ave in Boston.

The show was hosted by the Festival del Pueblo. The five day festival included workshops, marches, direct actions, music shows, performances and art shows. For more information on the event please visit their web page. www.FestivaldelPueblo.org

The Drawing Resistance show in D.C. was hosted by the Positive Force Collective. www.positiveforcedc.org

The show was displayed at the DC Indymedia Space. The Independent Media Center www.indymedia.org is a grass roots, people's media that began in Seattle, Washington during the W.T.O. protest in November, 1999. Since then, over 70 local Independent Media Center's have been started throughout the world. This democratic media source provides an alternative voice to the mass media which in the US is now essentially owned by four multi-national corporations.

The opening night of the show was a benefit for the People's Law Collective in NYC. The P.L.C. is an anarchist legal collective dedicated to supporting all activists in legal peril. The benefit was in support of the 200 protesters arrested in February at the mass demonstrations against the World Economic Forum in NYC.

Performances were by Trial By Fire (political punk from D.C.), Monitor (from D.C.) and a monologue of Emma Goldman in solidarity with the W.E.F. defendants and International Women's Day.

The show in NYC was at ABC No Rio, the legendary Lower East Side community art, music and activist space that has been active for decades. ABC No Rio is a collectively run space that was originally squated. Today it continues to hosts weekly punk shows, monthly art shows and contains a silk screening shop, darkroom and zine library. For more information about ABC No Rio, please visit their web site www.abcnorio.org

At the opening for the Drawing Resistance show, many of the New York city based artists attended the show, some meeting for the first time. Katie Burkart came in from Portland, Oregon and Sue Simenky Bietila came from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Seth Tobocman and Sue were guests on WBAI radio on January 15th on "The Moorish Orthodox Radio Campaign" show and talked about the Drawing Resistance show and the new issue of "World War 3-Illustrated" based on 9/11. It was a great night to be on WBAI. - Pacifica Radio had been liberated! The Board of Directors who had iced most of the radicals in an attempt to "mainstream" the station were defeated and the staff who had been fired (including Democracy Now! hosts Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez) were back and celebrating. To learn more about the historic struggle at Pacifica please visit the web site www.savepacifica.net

Sue and Richard Mock spoke and showed slides at a panel on Art & Politics on January 18th at "Artists Talk on Art" in Soho.

The show also happened to be in New York City during the large street demonstrations over the World Economic Forum meeting that received little mainstream press despite the fact that over 10,000 people took to the streets in lower Manhattan protesting corporate globalization.

The Detroit show was hosted by the collective members at the Trumbleplex who made the Drawing Resistance show their own and were instrumental in organizing and assisting other Midwest and East Coast shows. The Trumbleplex housing cooperative consists of three houses and a theater where the show was displayed for over a month. A transgender art show was also displayed in conjunction with the Drawing Resistance show. The show organizers, Sue Simensky Bietila and Nicolas Lampert showed slides on separate occasions during the course of the show.

The Trumbleplex is a very inspiring landmark for community activism and underground culture in Detroit. It would take pages to describe all the incredible events and activities that happen there. Best bet is to stop by for a visit at: 4208 Trumbull Ave.

for a review of the Detroit show please check out the article by Anita Schmaltz who writes for the Detroit Metro Times.

another review of the Detroit show was written by David Sands for the Michigan Citizen.

The Chicago show, displayed at the Heartland Cafe www.heartland-cafe.com was hosted by Diana Berek, Lew Rosenbaum and Carlos Cortez, who collectively work together in the group, Art and Labor. The show, hanging in the progressive cafe, sparked some controversy when a co-owner of the cafe, Mike James, removed Doug Minkler's art work, "Stop U.S. Aid to Israel". The organizers of the show (Sue Simensky Bietila and Nicolas Lampert) and the Chicago hosts (Diana Berek, Lew Rosenbaum and Carlos Cortez) stated their strong opposition to Minkler's work being removed on the grounds of censorship of an artists political viewpoint. As well as the fact that the image is an anti-military statement, not a derogative work against the people of Israel.

Mike James replied as follows... "I put the poster back into the exhibit. I wrote a longer email, but thought it better to keep it in the can. I think it was a good decision to take it down for several groups that have been to the heartland over the past two weeks, including the Jewish Peace Forum which included a rabbi or two (kosher no less), and guests from Israel. You may have wanted to generate more heated discussion with them (probably in their face), but I didn't. Plenty of heat and discussion were generated with this exhibit. Thanks for letting us have it."

The Drawing Resistance traveling art show debuted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. On the night of the opening, close to 200 people came to see the show at the Riverwest Artworks, a community art space on Holton St. www.riverwestart.org

The surprise of the night was a visit from the Wisconsin Arts Board from Madison, Wisconsin. The Rethinking Schools group chose a couple of images for their new book, Rethinking Globalization. www.rethinkingschools.org