Sloganeers, running through December 9 at the DC Arts Center, is part of DCAC’s Curatorial Initiative program, in which established curators nurture emerging ones, and in the process, create unique group exhibits. This month’s exhibit, curated by Liz Flyntz, examines the use of slogans in artwork. While common in advertising, slogans often serve a different purpose when appearing in an artist’s work.

Lou Laurita’s two displayed gouache on paper works, The Caveat and The Blind Spot (pictured above), mix skillfully painted orgiastic imagery with obtuse bubbled text that reads, “You are an American visionary” and “No one gives a shit about you,” respectively. Depending on one’s affinity for text versus imagery, it is either the text or the image that is difficult to comprehend at first glance. According to Laurita’s artist statement, his work references the various web site profiles that one creates to identify oneself, which are often asking for various things — “to dominate or be dominated, to maintain control or succumb … or maybe just a dinner out.” While the text in his work gives us an insight, it also forms a barrier between the real and the perceived, much like the web identities he references.

The Blind Spot by Lou Laurita courtesy of the DC Arts Center.