Marx@200: Exhibition

make revolution rayna fahey radical cross stitch

 

April 6-June 3, 2018

Marx@200 – SPACE Gallery, Pittsburgh

Guest Curators: Susanne Slavick and Kathleen Newman

Marx@200 is an exhibit inspired by the 200th birthday of Karl Marx (May 2018). Some of the artworks in this exhibit engage directly with Marx’s image or his writings, while others confront capitalism and still others dream of revolution. Marx is a controversial political figure. His impact on the history of global communism is profound, but that is not this exhibit’s focus. Instead, Marx@200 is a spirited, playful, and international effort to respond to some of the big social and economic issues that peoples in Pittsburgh—and across the globe—are facing at this moment.

Highlights from the exhibition include:
  • Ukranian-born Nataliya Slinko’s gigantic version of Marx’s beard made of steel wool
  • An animated Marx wielding a hammer in battle with Charles Darwin by Michael Mallis
  • Kiluanji Kia Henda’s photographic triptych of a fishing vessel named “Karl Marx, Luanda”
  • Kathryn Clark’s “Foreclosure Quilt,” a stitched urban map of foreclosed homes, block by block
  • An embroidered barcode by Rayna Fahey that says, “Don’t just buy it/Make Revolution”