“Untitled VI, Homes & Gardens” was one of two untitled pieces that really got my attention. Four plates depicting members of the Palestinian resistance in camouflage colors– orange, purple, blue and green—each rebel had his face covered, held a gun to his chest and wore a headband each marked in Arabic script. The second “Untitled VIII, Homes and Gardens” was a gold leaf, acrylic replica of the first ‘homes and gardens’. Leila Khalid, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) poster girl’s presence added nuance, incorporated women’s rights and implied gender equality, power.
Other screen-prints included the Zapatista Army of Liberation of Chiapas-hijacker Assata Shakur—The Black Panthers party for self-defense– Malcolm X civil rights leader–Nelson Mandela. Assata “she who struggles” Shakur “the thankful one” was an escaped slave forced into exile after spending six years in a US prison. Accused of manslaughter alongside Black Panther founders–Bobby Seale and Huey Newton—Assata represents African-American liberation.
Known for critically representing social issues with mixed media, Kyle Geon’s current exhibition also depicts two “inked” versions of the Iraqi flag, a camouflaged Nelson Mandela and Zapatista series on screen print and the female revolutionaries Assata Shakur and Leila Khalid in ink on fabric. With various takes on political resistance, Goen raises questions regarding the current state of our political economy by employing 21st century historical reference, political symbols, texture and complexity.
Awesome Revolutionary Pics’