The Strange Power of Cheap Sentiment (or a Bientot to Irony)

The Strange Power of Cheap Sentiment (or a Bientot to Irony)
curated by Bill Arning

October 25 – November 27, 1996

There was a time when artists would use sentimental images as an indictment of the dominant culture’s tastes and iconography to prove that they were smarter than their iconography . And smarter than the culture that produced them, and within which they functioned and existed. A strange thing happened. The ironic distance disappeared. Hearts, flowers, puppies, these really are vehicles and triggers for our emotions, they hold a terrifying power and to pretend distance is to lie. These artists have learned to feel again, and bravely speak myriad truths about their emotions, risking embarrassment and exposure.

Including works by:

Ricci Albenda, Leslie Brack, Patricia Cronin, John de Fazio, Andrew Ehrenworth, Pamela Fraser, John Hatfield, Jonathan Horowitz, Julia Jacquette, Larry Mantello, Gabriel Martinez, Keith Mayerson, Bruce Pearson, Michael Reck, Richard Rule, Jennie Schueler, Tabboo!