Ever heard the phrase "make love not war"? How about the almost-as-popular phrase "make tacos not war"? An exhibition of works by Alejandro Diaz, who coined the latter term, opened last Friday at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum and will run through June 9. The exhibition kicked off with a free opening Thursday night, when participants wandered the gallery and chatted with the artist as he designed custom cardboard signs for $20.
Cardboard signs are one of the many materials Diaz uses for his works. He often uses mundane materials - like cardboard, packaged good boxes and coffee cans - to paint sayings and witticisms like "in the future everyone will be famous for $15."
Diaz has also become known for featuring neon signs displaying sayings similar to those on his cardboard creations. These signs now light up the walls of the museum next to a life-size picture cutout of his aunt - which participants could take a picture with for $5 during the opening on Thursday - and several other multimedia creations. His works even extend outside of the museum and to the street, with his flashing neon signs inviting people into the museum to explore the rest of the exhibit.
"This show is very accessible" said Lani Stack, senior marketing communications specialist at the museum. "There are a lot of different aspects that we think will appeal to all ages and people from many different backgrounds."
"It seems at first very open and witty, which it is, but it's very serious in terms of cultural issues," said Judith Tannenbaum, curator of contemporary art for the museum.
One piece consists of just a large canvas painted orange and slashed through the middle, where a bouquet of silk flowers has been placed. This piece, among many others, serves as an example of how the purpose of mundane things can be completely altered with just a slight physical change - for example how a canvas can become an unusual vase with just a slight alteration to its surface, according to a description hung alongside the piece.
"He mixes high art, people like Andy Warhol, with Mexican folk art," Tannenbaum said. "And there are a lot of interesting individual pieces, but it works as a whole show as well."
This is not the first time that the RISD Museum has featured an exhibit like this - one that combines humor, politics, cultural issues and creativity into entertaining pieces, Stack said.
The museum will be giving a free toaster to those who sign up for a museum membership during the exhibit - Diaz's idea - while supplies last.
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