In response to the 2024 Presidential Election, Subliminal Projects presents AMERICAN PUNCHLINE, a group exhibition of contemporary artists who use satire, humor, and camp as an artistic tool, to criticize political and social injustices, curated by gallery director Sara Lois Kaplan.
Historically, wherever organized government and social categorization exist, the satirization of those systems emerges through the arts, functioning as a medium of free speech. In our present-day unpredictable political climate, behavior that was once considered reprehensible or just plain too weird for the mainstream is now a daily reality, creating a ripe environment for satire to flourish. As we consume these events filtered through news and social media, the lines between hyperbole and truth are commonly undetectable, or even worse subjective, challenging art to hold ground as a beacon to the fundamental contradictions that define modern society.
AMERICAN PUNCHLINE showcases 10 artists who use various methods and mediums, that expand on and redefine the genre of political satire, providing a mirror to the fragile state of our democracy. The exhibition centers humor as a vehicle for truth to ignite dialogue, and hope for a path forward. The joke might be hardlined into the American narrative, but are we ultimately the punchline?
“Historically artists have used humor and, specifically, satire—often the one-two punch of images and text—to cut politicians, bureaucrats, autocrats and would-be autocrats (among other power hungry characters) down to size," says longtime political artist, Robbie Conal. "Getting under their skins, skewering their lies and falsehoods, applying forms of what we might call “pictorial psychic jujitsu”: using their own power against them. Exposing their attempts at hoodwinking us. In this critical moment in American history, this group of ten artists, each using their own tactics, hopefully offers a much needed American Punchline!"
CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS: Ade Ogunmowo (Polo Cutty), Elyse Pignolet, Guerrilla Girls, Isabelle Brourman, Kelly Breez, Nadya Tolokonnikova (Pussy Riot), Robbie Conal, Shepard Fairey, Ward Sutton (Stan Kelly), and Winston Tseng.