MARTIN HUGO: NOT GUILTY?

On August 31st at Skylab Gallery, Martin Hugo will be displaying his collection of O.J. Simpson-themed T-shirts that were made and sold before and during Simpson's criminal trial for the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

Hugo has been searching these T-shirts out over the past few years, shirts that were originally sold on the street by unlicensed merchants, which have now become collectible commodities that often demand high prices on resale sites like eBay. The collection captures an array of aesthetically intriguing "naive" graphic design choices while serving as an inlet to the larger political and social narratives of 1990s America - an era that is currently mythologized as a time of peace and prosperity, which, in reality, was a time typified by bitter, fractious domestic politics. From Simpson's trial to the Unabomber, Oklahoma City to Waco, the Michigan militia to the Rodney King riots, the Amadou Diallo shooting to David Duke, 1990s America was a cauldron of social paranoia and racial hatred. Hugo's T-shirt collection perfectly articulates the role of the Simpson trial as an avatar for America's deep racial divisions and prompts insoluble questions about the nature of commerce and justice in the United States of America.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a print publication, which includes an essay by Dylan Taylor-Lehman entitled "Translating the Untranslatable, Expressing the Inexpressible."

CJ the DJ will be playing music during the opening.

Other News:

* ROY G BIV Gallery's Emerging Artist Series posts its 2012 Yearbook zine online. EAS's DIY Fest takes place at ROY on August 28th at 6:00 p.m.
* Columbus "Alive" covers John Malta's CCAD welcome week presentation.
* OSU Urban Outfitters Arts Space releases details on its upcoming Mark Beyer exhibit, Mark Beyer: With/Without Text, comprised of local art enthusiast Tom Wagner's extensive Beyer collection.
* Ricky Crano and Andrew Culp interview Claire Fontaine at Radical Philosophy.
* Vice.com's Nick Gazin reviews Universal Slime, a zine edited by John Malta that includes a few pieces I made.
* Real Pain: Future Dead Friends Tour 2012 comes to Skylab Gallery on September 27th, featuring Megan Boyle, Sam Pink, Jordan Castro, Mallory Whitten, Scott McCalahan, and many more readers.
* Video of Shaver performing "Mental Convict" in Pittsburgh, PA.
* Video of Vivian Xiaoshi Qin's piece "Joy" at ROY G BIV Gallery.