Barry Anderson at Bruno David Gallery September 10, 2010

In the Media Room, video artist Barry Anderson presents a three-channel video entitled ―Totem (1).‖ This new work, created in 2010, depicts, at a distance, a turbulent tornado against a yellow ochre sky, overtaking a Midwestern landscape reminiscent of Dorothy’s Kansas. Upon closer inspection, a mass of swirling faces overwhelmed by this natural force becomes visible. These faces, a conglomeration of pop icons, speak to Anderson’s recent interest in cultural imagery from 1950s to 1970s Americana. Rather than highlighting the era’s empty consumerism, as many artists have before him, Anderson emphasizes the homogeneity of the era, contrasting it with the taste for individualism in modern American culture.

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