THE MODERN ALPHA
The Modern Alpha exhibition took place between the 8th of February and the 2nd of March, 2019, at Wellington's Toi Pōneke.
The exhibition consisted of a series of hyper-detailed illustrative works by Wellington artist Hannah Salmon, satirising dominant political and ideological systems that promote oppression, competition and financial gain.
The exhibition consisted of a series of hyper-detailed illustrative works by Wellington artist Hannah Salmon, satirising dominant political and ideological systems that promote oppression, competition and financial gain.
The Modern Alpha interrogates the fragile heteronormative white male archetype that has emerged from decades of neoliberal rejection of the notions of collectivity, collaboration, care, and consent, and the rise of a system based on competition, domination and extraction. In doing so, the works seek to undermine the hegemony of neoliberalism, critiquing the systems of oppression associated with the logic of neoliberalism; capitalism, patriarchy, racial inequality, media and political demagoguery and religious persecution.
In referencing New Zealand-based media and political figures of the past and present, Salmon endeavours to link global neoliberal trends to the current socio-political trajectory of Aotearoa New Zealand; restrictions on immigration, increased surveillance, encroachments on civil freedoms, oppressive public policy and the exacerbation of existing anxieties that serve to encourage prejudice and marginalisation.
The illustrations depict the dystopian media and political landscapes of contemporary society, as well as speculative dystopian landscapes of the future; cancer-ridden physical environments devoid of life. But there is also celebration of the reclamation of both social and intellectual spaces, and of physical space. By exposing the fragility of the dominant elite, Salmon’s work seeks to provide hope for the rest of us - by highlighting not just the illegitimacy but also the weaknesses and pressure points of corporate hegemony, we can see where to focus our resistance. Through this critique, Salmon speaks to an alternative vision of the future, of a world where we have left conspicuous consumption and corporatist patriarchy behind.
In referencing New Zealand-based media and political figures of the past and present, Salmon endeavours to link global neoliberal trends to the current socio-political trajectory of Aotearoa New Zealand; restrictions on immigration, increased surveillance, encroachments on civil freedoms, oppressive public policy and the exacerbation of existing anxieties that serve to encourage prejudice and marginalisation.
The illustrations depict the dystopian media and political landscapes of contemporary society, as well as speculative dystopian landscapes of the future; cancer-ridden physical environments devoid of life. But there is also celebration of the reclamation of both social and intellectual spaces, and of physical space. By exposing the fragility of the dominant elite, Salmon’s work seeks to provide hope for the rest of us - by highlighting not just the illegitimacy but also the weaknesses and pressure points of corporate hegemony, we can see where to focus our resistance. Through this critique, Salmon speaks to an alternative vision of the future, of a world where we have left conspicuous consumption and corporatist patriarchy behind.
The Modern Alpha: Donald Trump
|
The Modern Alpha: Alex Jones
|
The Modern Alpha: Brett Kavanaugh
|
Patriarchal Boner
|
Peter Thiel: Literal Fucking Vampire
|
The Balls To Say What We’re All Thinking:
Michael Laws
|
The Balls To Say What We’re All Thinking: Balls
|
The Balls To Say What We’re All Thinking: Paul Henry
|
Remembering Dildo Baggins (A Tribute To Josie Butler)
|