When I submitted slides and a statement for the 10th LACE Annuale curated by Susanne Ghez, I talked about my feelings on political art, and how venues would only show political art that aligned with the venue's own politics. I wrote of the anecdote of a respected Los Angeles Latina artist who was contacted by the Women's Building to design a poster on abortion, and when the busy savvy artist inquired "For or Against?" the representatives of the venue hung up the phone.
I showed the series "Hot Topics" in the Annuale, and the series were 4x5 full length color portraits shot in the studio of friends who talked about the highly charged topic of their own choice, and they talked the entire time I shot the portraits, from both the front and the back. I did not record the conversation and the pieces contain the titles of the topics, like Immigration, Integration, BioEthics and White Supremacy, but there is no indication if the speaker is "for or against." The two sided frames are mounted on top of individual soap boxes. The ten pieces were installed in two groups facing one another as if in conversation. I called, but never divulged, that I considered the installation of the "Hot Topics" to be a Political Party.
