March 4 - June 10, 2017

Locust Projects, Miami

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Locust Projects presents FAKE NEWS, a new installation of resin-coated illustrations by Miami-based artist Kelly Breez. Drawing from the look of serial publications, including newspapers and tabloid magazines, FAKE NEWS responds to the sensational headlines, media manipulation, and climate of mistrust that culminated around the 2016 U.S. presidential elections.

 

FAKE NEWS provokes the uncertainty of news reporting in the post-Trump era. With the dark humor and biting criticism of political cartooning, Breez's illustrations propagate the scandal and melodrama of the current political moment. In headlines, bylines, and caricatures of pundits, politicians, and figures from the current presidential administration, the artist approaches political reality as a theater of the absurd. In appropriating these popular modes of media distribution, Breez fabricates her own ‘fake news’ where fiction imitates life, parodying the partisan info-tainment reporting so prevalent today.

 

Bordering on the grotesque, Breez's imagery rests on the irreverence and satire of her own visual vocabulary, taking this charged subject matter to its furthest extremes. The artist’s own anxiety at today’s political climate comes through in instances where she inserts herself into the narratives that unfold across her invented headlines: One article, in reference to Breez, is titled “Artist Freaking Out.” Each headline insists on the trauma of current affairs, offering somber quips like “The Truth is Finally Irrelevant” and “Totally Screwed” to caution her viewers as they navigate these conditions. FAKE NEWS stages parody as the gruesome and not-too-distant counterpart to reality.