Exhibit by Troy Davis: "Here's to Hollywood"

"Here's to Hollywood." by artist Troy Davis is Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery's first art exhibit. When the fledgling activist group HAnon contacted Troy about some art critical of Hollywood's kowtowing to the repressive Chinese regime, Troy didn't need any convincing. The card for the exhibit elaborates on Troy's views about Hollywood and the studio system.

Here are the works in the exhibit:

 "Xi Jinping Seal of Approval: Détourned Krusty the Clown SofA" by Troy Davis. This work is a bitter indictment of the Chinese dictator encroaching on the American film industry. The work takes an image from The Simpsons TV show, the  Krusty the Clown Seal of Approval and turns it into subversive art (portraying the  Chinese dictator as Winnie the Pooh is prohibited in China). When Troy sent this image to China, it was seized by authorities and his work has been banned by the Chinese regime.
Card for the work:

 "Legendary Pablum" by Troy Davis is a mixed media sculpture and mashup between the old baby food Pablum and Legendary Entertainment, a subsidiary of  Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda. The not-so-subtle message is that Legendary Entertainment churns out heavily censored and mindless diversionary entertainment (i.e., pabulum). The work is also a bitter critique of Xi Jinping's Orwellian Social Credit System.  The work includes another work from the "Here's To Hollywood" exhibit: "The Xi Jinping Seal of Approval: Detourned Krusty The Clown SofA" as well as the logo for the Chinese censorship agency SARFT.

"Hashtag: TankManRocks" by Troy Davis. This work It celebrates Tank Man, the hero of the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests of 1989. Les Zazous is proud to announce "The Tankman Challenge." Any filmmaker who vows to include the work in his or her film will receive a free signed and numbered print of the work.

#TankmanRocks

 "Explaining Xenu is Mission Impossible: Détourned MI:2 Standee" by Troy Davis pokes fun at the cozy relationship between Hollywood and the exploitive Church of Scientology. Troy took a promotional standee for the film MI:2 and added a reference to Scientology's absurd religious doctrine (Galactic Overlord Xenu) employing the logo of the Mission: Impossible television series. On a related note, Troy had previously written and drawn a comic book starring Xenu and Tom Cruise: "Cock-Tale: A Modern Tijuana Bible."

"Xi Jinping Doesn't Want You To See This: Détournement of Early Spring." by Troy Davis. Recently,  Troy heard Rob Schmitz's report on NPR about a controversial kitschy oil painting titled Early Spring that the Chinese regime suppressed. The painting is sterile propaganda that attempts to rewrite history by erasing a Communist Party official (Hua Guofeng) who fell out of favor and replacing him with Xi Jinping's father (who in the painting resembles his son more than he actually did). 

For some reason, the painting was suppressed by the regime so he created a new artwork by mashing up Early Spring with his own work Hashtag: TankManRocks. Troy figured that if the party hacks in Bejing hated the original work, they would be even more cheesed off if he added Tank Man of Tiananmen Square and the #TankManRocks meme.  

In the unaltered Early Spring, Xi Jinping's father Xi Zhongxun showing Communist Party officials a map of Shenzhen, a small fishing village that rapidly became a megapolis.

"Baby Boomer Safe Spaces" by Troy Davis. In this work, Troy takes on the Hollywood Right. Dennis Prager, a baby boomer, who is doing a film about the supposedly feckless millenial generation has his movie poster détourned by the artist who not-so-subtly points out that Prager, a war hawk, spent the Vietnam War at Columbia University when he had a chance to be a war hero.

"Don't Smell SARFT's Farts: Détourned SARFT Logo" by Troy Davis. The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has been the primary vehicle of media censorship by the Chinese Communist Party. Troy found it degrading that American film studios would subject their creations to censorship by party hacks in Beijing so he made the work.

"Détourned Wolf Warrior II Movie Poster" by Troy Davis. This and the next work in the exhibit embody conceptual art: not aesthetically pleasing but full of substance. Troy considers writer/director/actor Wu Jing to be the Julius Streicher of the 21st century. The film is a celebration of Chinese militarism.  Troy writes, "This film is sterile propaganda and I believe it should be considered an assault on humanity." The idea that Hollywood executives would court this hack [Wu Jing] shows the utter moral bankruptcy of the American studio system." 

 

"Détourned Operation Red Sea Movie Poster" by Troy Davis.  Like Wolf Warrior II, Operation Red Sea is a propaganda film glorifying Chinese militarism. Since tanks were displayed on the movie poster, Troy thought it would be amusing to insert Tank Man of Tiananmen Square onto the poster along with the hashtag "#TankManRocks." 

"Chinese Slave Labor Isn't Edgy: Anti-Apple Protest Sign" (2016) by Troy Davis.  This has been used as a sign and a sticker placed on laptop computers.

UPDATE: To "celebrate" the 70th anniversary of the Communist takeover of China, Troy Davis vandalized an offical icon of that the Xi regime created and transformed it into a bitter denunciation of Xi's Orwellian Social Credit System (社会信用体系). The work is titled, "Celebrate or Else!: Détourned 70th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China Logo."