MAJORITY WHIP ORGANIZED BY KATHY GRAYSON AND LAURA TEPPER MAY 1 – MAY 29, 2004 OPENING RECEPTION MAY 1, 2004 6-9PM

Majority Whip will feature an expansive selection of works on paper and a collaborative installation by over forty young artists from across the country. The selection does not focus on works based on policy but rather works with an eye for the lived reality of policy-works that look into the social fabric and the contemporary consciousness from a local and human perspective first.

For the duration of Majority Whip, White Box will be transformed into a congressional interior, modeled after the chambers of the United States Senate. Podiums and circular benches, flags of unusual color, crests, funny blue carpeting, old fixtures and chandeliers and various symbols of power will be re-appropriated and slightly askew. The Senate floor will be used for lectures, performances and events during the run of the exhibition. All of the invited artists will have the opportunity to participate in this installation and have been encouraged to create site-specific work. The artists will donate partial proceeds from the sale of their work to America Coming Together and SAAVV, non-profits dedicated to voter registration issues and run by the League of Conservation Voters.

A catalogue, compiled and designed by Scott Hug of K48, will accompany Majority Whip. K48, in its fourth incarnation, has brought together some of the most exciting new producers of art. music, fashion, and design. Scott Hug’s third issue materialized in three dimensions as a traveling art exhibit. The Teenage Bedroom Show at John Connelly Presents. Issue four of K48 was a major installation at Deitch Project that hosted some of the most exciting art and music events of this past winter. Hug will produce a visual and textual anthology. including images from the exhibition, fiction, poetry, music lyrics, and interviews – a slice of dissident culture now anthologizing the experience, the creativity, and political commitment of young people in America today.

Taken as a whole, Majority Whip will do more than generate money and visibility for the cause of voter registration, though a valuable end in and of itself. It will bring together a selection of energetic, innovative, and influential art-kids of our moment to demonstrate the power of collective energy and action. In doing so. the organizers hope to counteract the popular media portrayal of their generation, especially the vibrant youth community in New York, as being disengaged.

ARTISTS TO INCLUDE: Assume Vivid Astro Focus/ Devendra Banhart/ Brian Bellott/ Carl Bennett/ Hisham Bharoocha/ Sarah Braman/ Randy Colosky/ Rosson Crow/ Katie A. Davis/ Dearraindrop/ Jim Drain/ Brendan Fowler/ Ry Fyan/ Andrew Guenther/ Scott Hewicker/ Scott Hug/ Jo Jackson/ Xylor Jane/ Chris Johanson/ Daniel Joseph/ Misaki Kawai/ Matt Leines/ Chris Lindig/ Ashley Macomber/ Michael Magnan/ Michael Mahalchick/ Keegan McHargue/ Taylor MCKimens/ Tracy Nakayama/ Shay Nowick/ Shaun O’Dell/ Eamon Ore-Giron/ Erik Parker/ Ben Peterson/ Pffr/ Justin Samson/ Sarah Shapiro/ Koji Shimizu/ Simone Shubuck/ Sara Thustra/ Jeremy Voder/ Dylan Walker

Generous support has been received from Red Stripe.