FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 2023
Everything you say can and will be used against you: Brian Singer’s new solo exhibition confronts the state of American society
at the Torrance Art Museum
Los Angeles, CA – Artist Brian Singer presents Everything you say can and will be used against you, a new solo exhibition at the Torrance Art Museum that confronts the state of American society today. The exhibition is on view from January 20 – March 2, 2024.
Informed by his views growing up half-Japanese with a mother who was interned during WWII, Singer’s predominant focus on injustice is represented through a wide-ranging body of work that synthesizes the many contradictions and unconformable realities of the modern American ethos.
In Everything you say can and will be used against you, Singer deconstructs and reassembles recognizable and culturally-charged objects to create new contexts that expose, address, and reframe some of the most contentious social issues of our time. Such issues encompass the country’s attitude and response to refugees, gentrification, income inequality, surveillance, patriotism, land rights, and banned books.
Within the exhibition are several works from Singer’s flag series, in which the threads of country flags are disassembled and woven onto and around objects that create provocative conceptual associations. These works include threading a U.S. flag around an 1890s Bible, the wrapping of U.S. and Mexico flags around wood lath pieces from renovation projects in San Francisco’s Mission District (known as a hotspot of gentrification), a deconstructed Confederate flag woven around a copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and threads of flags from El Salvador, Venezuela, Honduras, and Guatemala woven around an old metal cot exploring the dynamics of cultural identity, displacement, and the treatment of asylum seekers.
The exhibition also includes works that upend traditionally benign lawn and playground games, introducing issues like land rights and police brutality within their deceptively genteel frameworks. These works include a cornhole game marked with text based on the promise Andrew Jackson made to Native Americans regarding how long they would have rights to their land, and a hopscotch game that incorporates Gadsden (“Don’t tread on me”) flags, police batons, and chalk outlines.
In Everything you say can and will be used against you, Singer presents a damning account of America’s systemic failures and the tragic consequences of continuing to ignore them. Within his provocative approach to reframing such conversations, one ultimately finds new avenues to understand and precipitate much-needed change.
Details
Everything you say can and will be used against you
On view January 20 – March 2, 2024
Gallery Two
Torrance Art Museum
3320 Civic Center Drive
Torrance, CA 90503
Tuesday – Saturday
11 AM – 5 PM
About Brian Singer
Brian Singer, also known as Someguy, is a San Francisco based fine artist whose studio practice and large-scale public projects address a variety of social justice issues. With a meticulous rigor and legibility informed by his experience as a graphic designer and visual communicator, Singer’s work invites critical engagement through surprising juxtapositions of media and wordplay. Ranging from intimate works on paper to international participatory projects, Singer’s practice is unified by the desire to facilitate unexpected moments of human connection.
Singer is best known for the 1000 Journals Project, launched in 2000, which was turned into a book, a feature length documentary, and has been exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. The project was covered in The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, Better Homes and Gardens and many others. Singer also launched the provocative project TWIT Spotting, where photos of people using their phones while driving were placed onto Billboards in the San Francisco Bay Area gaining widespread attention across regional broadcast media outlets.
Brian is also an accomplished graphic designer having created work for Apple, Pinterest, Facebook, Chronicle Books and many others. In addition to being recognized with numerous awards and publications, he has served on the boards for the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery and AIGA, the professional association for design. He currently serves on the board of Southern Exposure in San Francisco.
Website: www.someguy.is
Instagram: @someguy.is
About Torrance Art Museum
Torrance Art Museum (TAM) is the premier space to view contemporary art in the South Bay. The museum encourages all people to develop and increase their understanding and appreciation for Contemporary art via a variety of annual exhibitions, programs, artist talks, lectures, and symposia.
Through its emphasis on contemporary artistic expression in Southern California and globally, Torrance Art Museum brings together visual artists and community members to promote meaningful experiences in the arts,strengthen creative and critical thinking skills, and builds bridges between the visual arts and other disciplines in the humanities and sciences.
TAM is a program of the City of Torrance’s Cultural Services Division of the Community Services Department –creating and enriching community through people, programs and partnerships.
Website: www.torranceartmuseum.com
Instagram: @torranceartmuseum
