Art exhibit takes aim at our political-media-military circus

Art exhibit takes aim at our political-media-military circus
May/June 2005

Arnold Mesches' new exhibit, "The Greatest Show on Earth," will be at the Harn Museum of Art May 31-August 21. The show includes eight large paintings grappling with our times, as well as smaller works. He'll also give a talk at the gallery at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 12.

Writes curator Kerry Oliver-Smith: "Mesches paintings recall the work of the avant-garde Mexican mural painters from the thirties, especially the work of José Clemente Orozco. Ideologically driven, these artists exposed the power relations and social reality of their times while insisting on the redemptive force of a popular and public art. In his work, Mesches gives shape and form to what he sees in the world-political and cultural extremism spun out of control." Mesches has been exhibiting his works since 1946 and his work is featured in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery, and the Hirschorn.

The Harn can be contacted at 392-9826 or look them up on the web at www.harn.ufl.edu.