reprint from WhiteBox Art Center website:
reprint from white box art center website
Perfect Day: Drugs and Art Opens November 10th, 6-8PM WhiteBox Annex @ ChaShaMa Space for Artists 1791 Lexington Avenue Curated by Raul Zamudio and Juan Puntes Organized with Kyoko Sato JURIED OPEN CALL Send submissions to: info@whiteboxny.org Since the dawn of history, entheogens were thought as sacraments by shamans and ingesting them led to communing with deities, dead ancestors, and spirits. Today, medical research into the synthetic equivalent of hallucinogenic flora and fauna including powerful psychedelics such as LSD and MDMA, has produced possibilities in treating a myriad of psychological disorders through their low-level administration known as micro-dosing. At the same time, pain-relieving drugs used during surgery and in post-operation rehabilitation, have been abused creating large-scale addiction and fatal overdoses in the tens of thousands leading to lawsuits against the main producer of opioids: Purdue Pharma. On “October 21, 2020, it was reported that Purdue had reached a settlement potentially worth $8.3 billion, admitting that it “knowingly and intentionally conspired and agreed with others to aid and abet” doctors dispensing medication “without a legitimate medical purpose.” Apart from Perdue’s intent of criminality, the “war on drugs” initiated by Richard Nixon in 1971 has been won, except drugs are the victors. In the wake of this, scholars have proposed decriminalization of all drugs that will lead to less crime and homelessness, overcrowding of hospitals and prisons, and underscore a humane approach to global drug addiction that has reached epidemic proportions. The legalization of marijuana for recreational use is the first stage in achieving this, and as evinced by certain countries of the European Union, drug decriminalization has led to positive social results in contrast to political conservatives who view that in doing so, would engender drug usage. And then, of course, is the use of entheogens and drugs for aesthetic purposes in which many iconic works of art and literature were inspired by. With all these issues within its curatorial purview, Perfect Day: Drugs and Art is an international group exhibition of painting, sculpture, works-on-paper, photography, video, and performance that explores the social, cultural, and political contexts of drugs or mind-altering substances in human societies both historically and contemporaneously. Participating Artists: Abdul Vas | Antonio Caro | Alvaro Verduzco | Arlene Rush | Avelino Sala | Bill Berry | Bradley Eros | Chin Chih Yang | Claudia Baez | Daniel Rosenbaum | Dirty Churches | Eduardo Gil | Ernesto Restrepo | Eteri Chkadua | Franck Saïssi | gua_s | Isolde Kille | Jaakko Heikkila | Jason Mena | Javier Téllez | Jeanette Doyle | Jelena Tomasevic | Jim Costanzo | Jorge Tacla | Julia Justo | Julia San Martin | Kiichiro Adachi | Lorin Roser | Loy Luo | Marni Kotak | Martin Durazo | Max Blagg | Miguel Rodriguez Sepulveda | Mona Saeed Kamal | Nina Kuo | Noel Hennelly | Oxana Kovalchuk | Pedro Sanchez III | Robert Boyd | Sasha Summer | Seonming Ahn | Susana Sulic | Tamiko Kawata | Tana Oshima | Teresa Serrano | Yann Leto | & Special Guests Sneak Peak: Max Blagg, “Smack Yourself Senseless” 1980
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Pictures by Loy Luo
Exhibition site
Exhibition site
Exhibition site
Exhibition site
Loy Luo's work" Homeless or addict
Homeless or addict?
by: Loy Luo
It was originally a sketch of a homeless man sleeping by the side of the road, at least to the eye at the time, but when he was framed, you could say, with a cage, he really did look more like a drug addict having a good dream. The color frame is like the color of a dream, but the addition of silver makes the color look dirty. The border strip on the back of the painting is black, like the dark night when a drug addict lies intoxicated on it. The darkness must penetrate the beautiful package and climb up the skin, and the small black squares are like strips of adhesive tape dyed black with blood on the wound...
无家可归者？还是瘾君子？
这幅作品前身是一个酣睡在路边的无家可归者的素描肖像，起码当时的眼睛看到的是无家可归者，但当他被加上一些边框，你也可以说是加了一个囚笼时，他摇身一变倒确实更像是一个做着美梦的瘾君子了。彩色的边框如梦的颜色，然而银色的加入使彩色看着有些赃污，画的背后背负的那根边条是黑色的，像瘾君子沉醉躺卧其上的暗夜，黑暗必须穿透美丽的包裹爬上表皮，一个个小黑方块如贴在伤口上被血染黑了的胶条……