michelle onstot

Upcoming exhibition: "Guilty Pleasures" opens Saturday Nov 1 2008 6-9pm 643 Project Space 643 N. Ventura Ave. • Ventura, CA, 93001 • www.643projectspace.com

"Guilty Pleasures" is Onstot's new mixed media installation series. It is heavily based in drawing and includes acrylic, graphite, oil, pastel, ink, transfers, birch wood, receipts, televisions and audio elements.

Gallery Hours: Saturday, November 1, 6-9pm
Friday, November 7, 6-9pm
during “first Fridays”
and Saturdays 1-4pm, or Call for appointment
805 320-7279

1 guilty pleasures_statement

2 manufacturing consent_statement

3 bio

_______________________________________________________________________ guilty pleasures _ statement _______________________________________________________________________

As a socio-political artist the goal of my work is to create dialogue on issues of importance, such as the role of the corporation. For years I’ve been making work about Halliburton & war profiteering, US military deaths, Iraqi civilian deaths, the Patriot Act, Blackwater, etc.

I remember watching the documentary Control Room, about how truth is created by those who deliver it. In the film, the senior producer of Al Jazeera, Hassan Ibrahim, was asked after his friend was killed, “Who is going to stop the US, the war?” He responded,

'I have absolute confidence in the American Constitution, I have absolute confidence in the ability of the American people...'

I cried, knowing that he said that 4 years ago. I cried, thought to myself I’ll make a drawing later and then I went out for cocktails with friends.

If the American people are going to stop this war… Who are they and what of they been up to?

Personally I donate a little, attend anti-war protests, buy local, etc. but in truth it’s such a minute percentage of how I actually spend my time and energy.

How would I explain my life to someone who lost a wife… father… sister… son… how about all of the above? If my child died in my arms, what would I want to hear? “Sorry, I didn’t vote Bush?” How much of my day was spent thinking about the 36 people who died in a roadside bomb this morning compared to my traffic situation and the price of filling up my gas tank?

Guilty Pleasures is mixed media series that addresses these dichotomies. It is personaI. I have been documenting and archiving my American life for well over a year now. Saving every receipt, tallying up what I consume. I am drawing pretty portraits in my studio while I make notations of the days events in Iraq, noting how much TV I watch, writing down quotes of the funny things I hear friends say... It’s all ridiculous and harmless but gut wrenching when you juxtapose it against the war going on at the same time. I am being honest and it’s ugly.

Hassan Ibrahim is still waiting for me to do something. I went to the beach today.”

-michelle onstot

___________________________________________________________ manufacturing consent _ statement ____________________________________________________________

I strongly disagree with the widely accepted notion that entertainment (TV, art, film, music) is merely a leisure activity, not an extremely powerful tool in shaping public opinion. Looking at McCarthyism, Orson Wells and Charlie Chaplin were black listed for their art. In the fine arts the CIA harnessed abstract expressionism at the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney in the 50’s, funding Jackson Pollock’s retrospective. This pushed the abstract expressionism movement into popularity in order to avoid political content in art.

As a socio-political artist, the goal of my work is to raise awareness. My art pertains to the censorship that is accompanied with the advertising industry’s effects on the news media. This problem is growing exponentially due to recent government deregulation, accelerated mergers and corporate buyouts. In my mixed media panels I explore how corporations directly affect various political, economic and ecological issues such as globalization and war.

I work with the sculptural aspect of large panels as they offer multiple surfaces to utilize. In many pieces I either draw, paint, transfer or add text to their sides, sometimes all of the above. I build the panels out of birch wood, which has a gorgeous natural pattern that references topographical maps. I use acrylic washes of various colors to bring out that topographical effect which connects each piece and thus each issue, figuratively as well as literally. Many viewers however look at this component in my work and have a reaction similar to that of Rorschach ink blots. People have commented on seeing monsters, reproductive organs, etc. I work in a very direct manner, however I enjoy the ambiguity in this case as the viewers individually interact with the work yet the overall meaning is still retained.

I often find portraits to be a potent vehicle to draw the viewer in, as they create a feeling of empathy, bonding the viewer to the work. By initially seducing with visual interest and aesthetics, once engaged the viewer is much more likely to read the text and try to decipher the overall meaning and ideas that drive my work. As my panels are multilayered, if you don’t read the text, the general idea is still conveyed. A basic rule of design is to avoid large groups of small text as it will be seen as a whole form and people supposedly won’t read it. I have noticed that some viewers read a little, yet I’m constantly surprised how many people read it all. For those who take there time with the work each piece has hidden rewards, for example in “The New McCarthyism,” a-d-v-e-r-t-i-s-e-r-s is written on the fingernails of the hand holding the marionette, there are also related political figures in the pupils of the eyes, etc.

I don’t find it necessary for the viewer to agree with my position. The aim of my work is to inspire thought and to create dialogue.

-michelle onstot

______________________________________________________________________________________________ bio _________________________________________________________________________________________________

Michelle Onstot received her Masters of Fine Arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She was a recipient of the Melba & Paul Abrams Grant, a Curator at I-5 Gallery in Los Angeles and she gas worked graphically both nationally and internationally for organizations such as the ACLU and Direct Relief International. Her previous series Manufacturing Consent was exhibited in Los Angeles in Bergamot Station at Frumkin/Duval Gallery, the Barnsdall Art Center and Gallery 825, as well as in Santa Barbara at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art Ridley Tree Center and Contemporary Arts Forum.

*Note: to view work click each of the 3 images on the title page to see the corresponding series