New Launch: Appalachian Rage Exhibit

 Speechless The Artist writes:

Today is the launch of a new art exhibit. Stay tuned.

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."

New Work by Troy Davis: "Xi Jinping Doesn't Want You To See This: Détournement of Early Spring"

Troy Davis writes:

I proudly announce a new work titled Xi Jinping Doesn't Want You To See This: Détournement of Early Spring. Recently, I 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 I created a new artwork by mashing up Early Spring with my own work Hashtag: TankManRocks. I figured that if the party hacks in Bejing hated the original work, they would be even more cheesed off if I added TankMan 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. 

Troy of Les Zazous Picketed George Noory Event in Columbus Re Alex Jones

Troy Davis writes:

George Noory gave a talk at the Lincoln Theator in downtown Columbus so I picketed the event because of Noory's promotion of and whitewashing of Alex Jones. I gave signed and numbered art prints as well as printed copies of my open letter to Noory. Here is the open letter.

A Compromise Proposal Regarding Alex Jones and the Sandy Hook Parents: An Open Letter to George Noory

By Troy Davis of  Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery and The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts  @ZazousLes  @WeirdTracts

Dear Mr. Noory,

We live in perilous times. An exhaustive discussion of those perils is impossible but this letter addresses one of those perils you helped to create.

The Rise of Alex Jones: The Global Village Idiot

Alex Jones is a crackpot, a grifter, or a combination of the two. He is the epitome of the Village Idiot Archetype.  His Sandy Hook Trutherism closes the case on the previous two sentences. In an interview with you, Jones pointed out that before he was a guest on Coast to Coast AM, his audience was in the thousands. As a consequence of the media exposure that your radio program provided, Jones now has a fan base in the millions. You helped to turn a village idiot into, to borrow the terminology of Marshall McLuhan, a Global Village Idiot with a worldwide following of village idiots; Jones’ media empire also turns below-average intelligence mooks into paranoid, conspiracy-mongering mooks. Is that a record to honor?

I am part of the Adjunct College Instruction Sweatshop Complex; if I were to receive a term paper from an undergraduate student that puts forth one of Jones’ nutjob theories (e.g., 9/11 Trutherism), I would do the following: 1) administratively withdraw the student; 2) contact the counseling department of the college; 3) and write a full and detailed report of the incident to the department chair and the appropriate administrative staff.

Recently you interviewed Jones and he denied that he was a Sandy Hook Truther. The evidence is overwhelming that this is not the case. Jones referred to the Sandy Hook massacre a “hoax,” and a “fraud” numerous times; Jones claimed that before TV interviews, Sandy Hook parents were laughing, and then “hyperventilated” in order to appear grief-stricken before the cameras. As a consequence, the Sandy Hook parents have faced harassment from Jones’ addle-brained following; one couple had to move seven times because of the hounding. A minimum of research would have uncovered those and numerous other facts about Jones’ repellent statements. The parents deserved better.

An Alex Jones/ Sandy Hook Truce: A Modest Proposal

Commentator John Oliver noted the outrageously high markups on the nutritional supplements sold on the Infowars website (quick aside: who the

f--- except an Infowars fan buys expensive nutritional supplements from a 45-year-old man who looks like he’s pushing 60?).  Jim Hoft of the Gateway Pundit website recently reported* that purchasers of Infowars merchandise were dying at an extremely high rate, one that vastly exceeded replacement numbers (Hoft’s report pointed out that the last words of  43 percent of those Infowars devotees were “Hey, check this out! I seen [sic] this done on a Road Runner cartoon!”).

I propose a truce. Because of large percentage of Jones’ consumer base’s early demise due to Darwin Awards-type activities, my idea is that in exchange for Jones ceasing his harangues against the Sandy Hook parents, I could organize millions of sane people to bite the bullet and become subscribers to the Infowars Store and buy Jones’ stuff at high markups. For instance, currently I buy organic coffee beans at Kroger for $6.00 a pound (Kroger regularly mails me coupons so about half the time, I pay $4.50 a pound).  I am willing to do my part and become a subscriber to the Infowars Store’s Patriot Blend 100% Organic Coffee (subscriber cost is $16.16 a pound; one-time cost is $17.95) if it means that the Sandy Hook parents are left alone to mourn in peace.  Could use your radio show to publicize the compromise? One final thought: Don’t get me started on frequent Coast To Coast AM guest and former Infowars correspondent Jerome Corsi and what he and Roger Stone did to Seth Rich’s parents.

Sincerely,

Troy Davis

*No. Hoft has said a lot of stupid things in his life but he didn’t say these things.  To quoteHustler’s Jerry Falwell Campari ad parody; that part of the letter is “not to be taken seriously.”

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts Is Now A Part Of The Les Zazous Art Gallery

Troy Davis writes:

The next exhibit at The Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery will celebrate the deranged art of Jack T. Chick. I have a huge collection of Jack Chick-related items. I also have an enormous collection of non-Chick religious tracts; hence, I created The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts as an adjunct to Les Zazous.  You can read the blog here and the Twitter handle is @WeirdTracts

Rocky Statue Defiled by Performance Art

As a part of Les Zazous' exhibit "Here's To Hollywood," Troy Davis did performance art with the Rocky statue outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art to spank notorious chickenhawk Sylvester Stallone. The work is titled "Chickenhawk X-Ray Spex"

Les Zazous Art Giveaway Outside WeBanco Arena of Trump Rally 9/29/18

Les Zazous' Troy Davis gave out signed and numbered art prints to those waiting in line to see Doanld Trump as well as to the many anti-Trump protesters. Troy also did performance art with the statue of acclaimed labor leader Walter Reuther. Some of the prints include "Greetings from Wheeling: Birthplace of McCarthyism" 

Another work given away at the Donald Trump rally in Wheeling West Virginia is a faux political ad promoting CultJam's film Ivy League Exorcist: The Bobby Jindal Story

Another signed and numbered print given out at the Wheeling West Virginia Trump rally to Trumpists and protesters is the faux political ad titled "Les Zazous for County Commissar"
Also given out at the Wheeling, West Virginia Trump Rally at WesBanco is a print of a work that is part of Les Zazous' exhibit "Here's To Hollywood" titled "Xi Jinping Seal of Approval: Detourned Krusty the Clown SofA"


Finally, Troy did some performance art with the nearby statue of the legendary labor leader and Wheeling native Walter Reuther. The statue is about 20 yards away from WesBanco Arena and it was cordoned off during the rally; that was unfortunate because Trump and many of his followers could have benefited from seeing an inspirational hero like Reuther. Troy's performance art reflects this disappointment: 

This Twitter thread has more info about the art giveaway.