Upsodown
Curated by AJ Liberto & Kate True, Upsodown brings together the work of ten visual artists from throughout the South, West, and East Coasts: Seth Alverson, Nick Cave, Robert Colescott, Marcus Kenney, Eli Kessler, AJ Liberto, Clifford Owens, Joyce Pensato, Tara Sellios and Summer Wheat. Robert Colescott’s masterful etching Pontchartrain serves as a cornerstone of Upsodown. This monumental print was created in 1997, the year Colescott was selected as the first Black artist to represent the US in the Venice Bienniale. As exemplified by Pontchartrain, the artists of Upsodown employ the forces of mayhem, humor, exaggeration, and compassion to subvert the dynamics of power. Subversion, however, is only the beginning of the carnival rites. Fed by laughter, a new order and beauty, previously unimaginable, emerges and flourishes.


January-February 2013
New Art Center, Newton MA


photos by Harlem Logan and Kate True