UNLV Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art
Las Vegas, Nevada
We believe everyone deserves access to art that challenges our understanding of the present and inspires us to create a future that makes space for us all.
MessageGig Depio: Rebuilders
- January 15, 2021 - April 02, 2021
- Exhibition
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- Artwork
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- Artists
Gig Depio
Dog (2014)
Graphite on paper
The muzzled dog embodies the artist’s experience of being ignored. “Nobody listens to me no matter how much I shout. But give me a chance to remove this and I’ll show you. You’re setting this artificial standard [for yourself] that people accept, maybe because it's easier. And because you’re afraid to get hurt. That’s what it is. The muzzle is the standard.”
He notes that the Rebuilders sketch doesn’t include the train and some of the other objects that appear in the final painting. “I remember watching one of those vintage movies where one of the shots was the train coming in. The theme is change, right? The train is coming to destroy this whole thing so you might as well embrace it. They’re purposely ignoring it because they’re wishful thinking.” That was how Depio felt as he watched his colleagues at the Contemporary Art Center try to save the dying organization while he was creating Breaking Armistice. “It’s going to die and you’re in denial.”
(DK Sole, curator)
- Created: 2014