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In Nazi Germany, citizens who spoke out against Hitler were beheaded. In Mexico, 300 or more protestors were murdered by firing squad just before the country hosted the 1968 Olympics. In China, the cultural revolution eliminated intellectuals whose opinions differed from those of Mao Zedong's regime. And more recently, in Singapore, Michael Fay was caned by the government for spray-painting public property. Tunisian reporters have been arrested for speaking against their government and in Latin America human rights workers often vanish.
America was founded upon resistance. From Sam Adams throwing crates of British tea into Boston Harbor to Kanye West speaking out against the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, dissent is a central element of human society.
"Dissent: Art in the Street," on exhibit at University of Louisville's Covi Gallery, features artists of local and national notoriety. The exhibit, curated by Aron Conaway and John Begley, is in many ways as patriotic as the Boston Tea Party. Some artists, such as Hearts, USRP and Obey, are immediately distinguishable. Others are only recognizable in their clandestine work found on telephone poles, dumpsters and downtown buildings.
The artists selected for this show normally practice under the threat of arrest. The featured artists are also powerful within the institutional art gallery because "beyond deviant activity, they have a message," said Hallie Jones, artist and political science graduate student.
For this exhibition, Conaway, no stranger to spray paint, collected photos of work from Louisville's notoriously unseen artists and presented it alongside the work of street artists from across the country. Begley, director of the University Galleries, donated four white walls to the work of Conaway and his fellow artists. Armed with buckets of paint and wheat paste, Conaway and company covered the Covi Gallery with their testimony that dissent is alive in America today.
Tags, stencils and freestyle drawings stick and scream from the walls to which they are adhered. Skulls, bugs, guns, and President Bush are the most common images within this giant collage of radical art. Security cameras mounted on white picket fences read "Love Thy Neighbor." Slogans cover the walls: "More Military, Less Skools," "Don't Be Ashamed, Kiss" and "Jesus was a Revolutionary."
As indicated by the title of the show, political issues are ever-present in the work on display. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg uses sexy legs and stilettos to campaign for abortion rights. More than promoting any one idea, however, this show celebrates freedom of speech.
Sharpie markers encourage audience participation as an interactive testament to the First Amendment. In this exhibition, as in urban street art, everyone and anyone bold enough to post their work can do so. As a result, the show is continuously becoming more diverse.
The exhibition is presented in conjunction with the citywide series, Dissent!
The Commonwealth Center for the Humanities at the University of Louisville is at the core of the project, but it includes a diverse group of humanitarians.
The series has partnered 15 university divisions with 10 local organizations. Participants include Actors Theatre, the Louisville Free Public Library and the ACLU. This year's Season of Dissent runs through April. Lectures, a film series and performances are taking place at various locations throughout the city.
"The festival is really important because it reminds people that dissent is something sacred," Jones said. "It must be preserved as an American tradition."
Dissent, according to Media Collections Professor David Horvath, is not negative. "While the term 'dissent' is by definition against establishment, it can be incredibly diverse. In many cases it is actually creating something new," Horvath said.
Horvath organized the Reel Revolution Film Series with SAC Activities Coordinator Stuart Neff for this year's Season of Dissent. The goal of the series, according to Horvath, is to "talk and talk and talk and get people to think about this word and to activate the community."
For a complete schedule of Dissent! events visit http://www.dissentlouisville.org/.
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