In America, divisions between
class, not to mention political and religious ideology,
are growing more pronounced in contrast. Yet there’s
a pervasive underlying democratic myth that economic and
social status are available to all. The idea is embedded
in TV shows like the reality series The Simple Life, where
heiresses laughably attempt to make an honest buck like
blue collar folks. In mainstream magazines mass audiences
are desensitized to the idea that a pair of denim jeans
should cost $500 or designer yoga mats are worth twice
that.
With her artwork, Angelica Muro is less
concerned with objects themselves than in crossing the
psychosocial codes of class and identity. She imagines
a universe where the signals short circuit, and the signifiers
of hard, low wage labor – jobs with life threatening
duties – are mixed with those of luxury goods.
What she shows us could be an impossible merger of the
high end corporate merchandising juggernaut LVMH (Moet
Hennessy - Louis Vuitton) and the labor safety bureaucracy
called OSHA. There isn’t a chance in hell that
these two would ever have any formal connection in reality,
but the psychic space this intersection describes is
actually well in effect.
Muro often exploits the messages of the
beauty industry to make her points visually, and it’s
an apt metaphor. Yet Muro’s work is hardly skin
deep. There’s a compelling sense of tenuousness
to her drawings and photographs of prettified toxic substances
and cut-rate luxury goods. The balance teeters between
one end of the class spectrum and the other, and Muro
captures the anxiety of the movements with vivid precision. |
