The revolution is earnest, serious stuff. But what happens when revolution and style are scrambled—when art, fashion, and popular culture look to politics for an edge, and when the revolution needs a look to advertise itself? I’m giving a talk about my 2018 City Gallery Wellington show Iconography of Revolt, which tracked the absorption of edgy revolutionary imagery and strategies into the mainstream. I’ll be reflecting on the implications for art and curating. The talk will take in Bolshevik sportswear and Black Panther propaganda, hacktivists and hijackers, stone throwers and balaclava wearers, Pussy Riot and the Ayatollah, Maoists in a Paris flat and a flower-power orgy in Death Valley, terrorists on the catwalk and university-recruiting videos. Come along. Saturday 3 December 2022, at 4pm, at Starkwhite Queenstown, 1–7 Earl Street. It’s part of the Curious programme of talks and events in Queenstown organised by my friend Kelly Carmichael.
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