STAND UP FOR A CHANGE IN ‘08
FROM STREET TO GALLERY, LAUREN BERGMAN’S POLITICAL ART
(New York, NY – August 6, 2008) – New York-based artist Lauren Bergman strives to promote political change and recently has strategically exhibited her fine artwork in a place where people are sure to pay attention—at the gas pump. With the up-coming presidential election on the collective conscious, Bergman employs her vintage-style art for political protest and has boldly chosen the New York gas stations as her gallery space.
Her vintage inspired posters create a sense of nostalgia, reminding us of a time when war propaganda stirred emotions of nationality and support. Bergman uses this template, with a twist of whit, satire, and poignancy. The Vargas style pin-up girls depict the aesthetics of femininity while the background details political commentary on the controversial underpinnings of the country’s current war status. “The text in the poster is taken directly from a World War II U.S. propaganda poster – the original poster showed a fleet of jets which I converted to flying oil drums, which is what this war is really about,” says Bergman. “I included the frolicking lingerie clad women as symbols of the government’s oblivious, oil-drunk madness.”
Bergman is no stranger to active political protests, nor is she a stranger to the gallery scene, having had shows in New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.; however, she feels a “heightened sense of urgency” surrounding this election. “The economy flounders, gas prices are well over $4.00 per gallon, $4 billion every month is spent on a war we never should have entered… What does one person do?” inquires Bergman.
Initially, Bergman’s poster was made for the “? the War” show at Corey Helford Gallery, however, an advertisement on YoPeace.org, an organization of artists for peace, for a poster project inspired Bergman to take an unconventional approach to displaying her work. The protest posters will be used as part of a protest at the Republican National Convention in addition to being digitally broadcasted internationally. With this international poster project, the hope is to inspire posters and posting as a means for artists to express their political message and effect change. For Bergman, this project provides her with a prime opportunity to break through the gallery walls and into the public sphere where her posters can be put “good use” and her message refuses to be ignored.
