RAC is pleased to present Tate Foley’s Solo Exhibition, 100% Stratification or Your Money Back. We all had fun at the opening of the show, and wanted to share some images of the event. Tate Foley’s work is on view until August 19th at 9 Clinton Street. 

Tate Foley was born in Millerton, a small rural town in Northcentral Pennsylvania. He currently lives and works in St. Louis, Missouri, where he is an Assistant Professor of Art/Visiting Artist at Webster University. He has exhibited extensively across the United States and participated in Recession Art’s Spring 2011 exhibition Irrational Exuberance at the Invisible Dog in Brooklyn.

Working from a broad and deep knowledge of many different artistic disciplines with a printmaking core, Tate creates art that distorts and twists the expected relationships between pictures and text. All of his pieces, whether they are drawings, digital works, photography, or prints, have a visible influence from the graphic design of advertising, which makes their criticism of consumerism and politics all the more striking.

There is a distinctive Americana imagery that characterizes Tate’s work, and a style similar to images in the advertising industry. Coupled with contemporary problems like oil consumption and the recession, these pieces take on a sharp edge.

The symbols in Tate’s art are common, ubiquitous, and therefore enduring. They provide a context and, literally, a container in which to place the text. The combination of icon and text, along with the form of the piece, creates a poignant critique of contemporary culture. The inviting, flatly colored images draw the viewer in, then force them to confront a darker meaning behind what was at first something familiar.

Tate Foley’s 100% Stratification Guaranteed Or Your Money Back is presented by Recession Art and is on view July 10 – August 19, 2012 at 9 Clinton Street NY, NY.  Recession Art connects emerging artists with aspiring collectors and provides an affordable and accessible alternative to the traditional art market.