Copycat Exhibition

RECEPTION: Saturday, September 21, 1–3pm

Copycat explores what it means to value an original in the age of technical reproducibility and hypothesizes how original artworks themselves can be preserved through reproductions and replicas. Art in the modern era emphasizes originality, truth, and identity. Artists continue to serve as essential components to the ever-evolving conversation around these matters. Although artists’ voices and works are highly celebrated for their creativity and uniqueness, they exist precariously in a culture that increasingly normalizes appropriation, knock-offs, and forgeries, especially on the internet and social media. Tackling broader intellectual property issues including appropriation, infringement, derivative works, fair use, parody, and satire, Copycat raises questions of authorship, interrogates notions of integrity, and reflects upon shifting cultural and technological norms.

Featuring: Libby Black, Enrique Chagoya, Kota Ezawa, Nina Katchadourian, Scott Kildall, Scott Kildall & Bryan Cera, Michael Mandiberg, Sean Peeler, Stephanie Syjuco, Charlene Tan, Chris Thorson, and Daren Wilson. With work from students in SF State's Spring 2019 Language of Observational Painting classes taught by Libby Black and Pablo Cristi. Curated by Kevin B. Chen.

image: stills from Postmodern Times by Michael Mandiberg (2016–18, duration: 87 minutes). This exhibition is supported by the SF State Instructionally Related Student Activities Fund.