The Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan University is pleased to announce the opening of "Good Morning, America", a timely exhibition that will be on view from Saturday, January 25 through Sunday, March 2.

How have concerned artists responded to life and politics in the United States in the wake of 9/11? In stylistically diverse works that range from paintings, sculpture, and illuminated manuscripts to mixed media and photo-text installations, as well as online and video projects, Good Morning, America explores some of these responses as well as historically resonant works by bringing together the work of Joyce Kozloff, Barbara Kruger, Arnold Mesches, Joshua Neustein, Josh On, Jenny Polak, Barbara Pollack, Yannis Ziogas, and projects of the International Center of Photography and the National Coalition Against Censorship, both in New York City. Three artists, Joshua Neustein, Barbara Pollack, and Yannis Ziogas created works specifically for this exhibition.

Included in the exhibition are works by Arnold Mesches from his ongoing series The FBI Files, begun in 2000 and currently on view (through January) at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City, New York. Mesches' contemporary "illuminated manuscripts" incorporate pages from his own files, recently obtained via The Freedom of Information Act; The Elegy of a Happy Alliance, 2002, a mixed media installation made by Greek artist Yannis Ziogas, explores the U.S. Government's role in the junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974; Breaking News, 2002, a photo-text project of the International Center of Photography in New York challenges the way the mainstream media (in this case Time magazine) shaped the presentation of the Afghan war through its selection of available photographs; Targets, 2000, by Joyce Kozloff is a nine -foot diameter, globe-shaped walk-in installation whose interior is lined with paintings based on contemporary aeronautical maps of countries that have been targets of the U.S. since 1945; Barbara Kruger's Untitled (Questions),1991, is a large vinyl representation of the American flag in which the white stripes are replaced by a series of questions that suggest unequal power relations; and America's Army, 2003, a videotape by Barbara Pollack, takes a personal look at one of the Army's recruiting methods.

Online projects include They Rule, 2001 by Josh On, presented at the 2002 Whitney Biennial, and Hard Place by Jenny Polak and Lauren Gill. They Rule investigates corporate power relationships in the United States. Hard Place, 2001, commissioned by the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in New York City, examines the detention of immigrants in the United States.

In addition, the exhibition will feature Censorship Undeterred: A Selective Timeline of Art Controversies 1989-2002, 2002, a photo-text project of the National Coalition Against Censorship.

During the month of February, a film series will be presented free of charge in conjunction with Good Morning, America; The Trials of Henry Kissinger, 2002, directed by Eugene Jarecki, on Thursday, February 6; Gaza Strip, 2002, directed by James Longley, on Thursday, February 13; and Life and Debt, 2001, produced and directed by Stephanie Black, on Thursday, February 20. For more information about the film series and the exhibition, please visit the Zilkha Gallery website:
www.wesleyan.edu/CFA/goodmorning.html
visit Good Morning America web projects

The exhibition and film series are organized by Nina Felshin, curator of exhibitions, Zilkha Gallery.

CONTACT:
Hilary Sierpinski
hsierpinski@wesleyan.edu
(860) 685-2806