Artistic Weapons of Mass Connection 

Samira Abbassy - Rajie Cook -
John Halaka - Ganzeer - Mary Tuma

Curated by Souhad Rafey 

on view: April 23 – May 24, 2015
opening Reception: Saturday, April 25,  5–8pm

A common thread connects the selected works being shown in this exhibition. Represented in “Artistic Weapons of Mass Communication” are five artists who utilize different artistic means in order to communicate strong statements through their work. In this context weapons may be construed to include art that is used to gain a strategic, material or mental advantage over traditional mindsets. attitudes. 

With the Middle East in focus, the show reflects opposition to wars of aggression, military occupations of foreign lands, and the necessary change to the destructive mindset of "empire as a way of life."   

The works of John Halaka and Rajie Cook are specific to the Israeli-Palestinian "conflict."   

Samira Abbassy shows multi panel modular oil paintings from her "Eternal War" series.  With similarities to Persian miniature painting the artist captures the dismal realities of war. 

Ganzeer concentrates on civic responsibility and social justice.   

He takes a poem which can be considered a rather outdated form of mass communication, and not only repackages it in a singing style that matches the spirit and times of today, but also in an artistic music video that can be shared on the internet and distributed to the masses at large.  

Through her use of incorporeal forms Mary Tuma's work portrays a sense of loss. It invokes a feeling of distant memories; Images are like shadows or ghosts, something not quite whole and no longer real. Reality and surreality or humor and sadness usually come into play, 

Souhad Rafey has an M.A. in Museum Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has worked in over a dozen NYC museums and galleries, among which are the Cooper Hewitt, American Craft Museum, Museum of American Folk Art, Galerie St. Etienne, and Andy Warhol's Studio.  Currently, she is the Curator of Exhibitions at the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and she oversees a private art collection.   

DIRECTIONS:

Take 2, 3, or 4 trains to Franklin Avenue. Walk two blocks against the traffic on Franklin. Walk ¾ block to 558 St. Johns Place. FiveMyles is within easy walking distance from the Brooklyn Museum.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

FiveMyles is in part supported by the New York State Council for the Arts, Public Funds from the New York City Dept. of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Council Member Laurie Cumbo, the Greenwich Collection, The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation, the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, and Humanities NY.