Photo courtesy of the Columbus Cultural Arts Center
Mitt Romney once said "Corporations are people, my friend." If that quote baffles you, you're not alone. Sue Cavanaugh’s latest exhibit Gathering IV: Once Upon an Idea serves as a playful social commentary on issues ranging from the “personhood” of corporations to female body image. Cavanaugh invites viewers to come with a lighthearted attitude as she delves into the political and controversial.
Throughout the exhibit, Cavanaugh forces the audience to ask questions like “what would corporate skin look like?” She chooses to represent this “corporate skin” as a series of men’s shirts, whose pockets are stuffed with shredded cash. The exhibit also features 84 printed cards, each of which include a one-liner like “Corporations are people like the emperor’s new clothes were real.”
Cavanaugh also features an installment called Red which includes a variety of photos and re-purposed polyester. It serves as a representation of society’s obsession with size, particularly when it comes to women and the fixation on maintaining a perfect body size.
“I hope people will come, wander, help themselves to a little ‘free speech’, and have a laugh. That’s enough, but if you’re so inclined, you may want to consider the tenuous relationship we humans have with this elusive thing called reality,” says Cavanaugh, according to the Columbus Cultural Arts Center.
The exhibit is hosted by the Columbus Cultural Arts Center and will run from March 25-April 23 from 6-8 p.m.
