Female Narrator Welcome to Breaking News: Turning the Lens on Mass Media.
[quick-paced music reminiscent of a news show]
This exhibition explores how artists have looked at and commented on news images during the second half of the 20th-century, from the Vietnam War in the 1960s to the War on Terror in the 2000s.
[music ends]
Much of the work is political; all of it is personal. Each of these artists has used his or her own techniques to lift the news from the ephemeral and create something more lasting.
The artists in this exhibition have juxtaposed, mimicked and, very often, appropriated elements of the news media to create their own works of art. Appropriation is the use of an existing image or text to create new meaning.
[ambient music evoking a contemplative mood]
On this tour, we’ll hear from many of the artists in the show, as well as from photographs curator Arpad Kovacs. You will hear a number of these artists explore feelings of helplessness, anxiety, anger and curiosity at how events were represented in the media and why they felt the necessity to talk back in their own, unique ways.
As you look at the works in this show, we hope you’ll think critically about how news is produced, consumed and commented upon. Most importantly, we hope this exhibition will inspire you to turn your own lens on the media, and make your own personal connections and conclusions, in the gallery and beyond.
[music ends]
