Romulo Sans: Between Heaven and Hell

WhiteBox Project Room presents
WhiteBox Art Center
329 Broome St
NY, NY 10002 

 BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL

 A BENEFIT EXHIBITION

Curated by Raul Zamudio

On view May 20th to June 10th, 2015
Opening Reception Wednesday May 20th | 7-9pm

WhiteBox Project Room is pleased to present the solo show of Romulo Sans titled Romulo Sans: Between Heaven and Hell. Whereas in previous exhibitions Sans’ subject matter ran the gamut of gritty urban New York street culture to impeccably staged mise-en-scenes that converge haute couture with memento mori, Romulo Sans: Between Heaven and Hell is more topical by indirectly citing events within the context of social violence, Religious authoritarianism, political corruption, corporate greed, media collusion, and consumerism.

Exemplifying this is a photograph of what appears to be a runway model casually smoking a cigarette with a blue recycling bag over her head filled with environmentally toxic products. Is this some avant-garde fashion accessory or a poignant eco-political work about the complacency of culture and the culture of complacency? In another work, the word Caliphate is written in typography similarly used in Coca-Cola advertisements. On the one hand, the work mines Western Islamophobia and its perception of terror groups becoming ubiquitous to the degree that they are ostensibly corporate. On the other hand, it also alludes to shadow economies and vulture capitalism evinced, for example, in Western multinational corporations and their subsidiaries who indirectly foment religious and political turmoil for economic opportunity in their desire for global power