FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

{CTS} creative thriftshop is proud to present Act American, a concept that originated from necessity. Juan Doe, one of today’s most vibrant talents, has amassed over fifty new works on canvas and in print. All embodied with the classic Americana red, white, and blue, seamless bold lines, and eye catching juxtaposing graphics, these works strain the boundary between painting and political propaganda.

Juan Doe, in reaction to the compounded and pressurized events of the declaration of war in both his personal and public lives, has gone on the defensive. The artist is able to capture with tremendous humor and an almost inappropriate backhand, the extraordinary power of this strange and powerful visual legacy. He doesn’t simply borrow symbols, he creates new ones by taking some of the world’s most recognizable and negatively charged visual vocabulary and morphing it into contradictory phrases, comic credos, and witty cultural interjections. Not simply to entertain the sense but to reinforce the fact that we have been taken advantage of, that we have lost sight, and that perhaps we have to start calling in the bets or all that came before us is in jeopardy of becoming just a sad cultural cliche.

Accompanying this exhibition is the short experimental film Act American Ninja. A spontaneous collaboration project of Juan Doe and editor, El Inigualable 416. This bizarre almost externalized fantasy plays on Doe’s hyper-real sense of warriorism and the editors sense of visual mayhem.

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about the artist: Juan Doe an artist that strains the boundary between painting, propaganda, polemics, and philosophical discourse in art. He encapsulated a new age aesthetic through his command of the graphic process but with the masterful execution of a painter. His images are non-negotiable, they cannot be interpreted or postponed; they exist now, for the oxygen of the viewers eyes.

about the curator: Born and raised in New York, Lynn del Sol currently lives and works in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In late 2003 she left the commercial art world and set to create a vehicle for expletory artists to exhibit their works to the public by founding {CTS} creative thriftshop, a young art company that represents international emerging and under-represented artists.

about the gallery: Tia Cafe Art Gallery was founded in 2003 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn as a multi-media cafe that presented videos, art shows, and performances. It was opened by a husband and wife team with the vision of of bringing arts into everyday life so that they become a part of the daily agenda.