'Karen Katastrophe 2020', Screen Print with Oil Stick on canvas by XVALA
Pandemic Collection: Series #9
This 92" x 55.5" mixed media work by artist XVALA depicts the tense exchange between several vibrant and bright arguing figures. The central figure is dawning a hat that reads manager and is surrounded by a dozen angry figures pointing and yelling at the "Manager." In a palette of red, green, yellow, and blue.
As if COVID-19 were not enough, 2020 also brought the explosion of the Karens, a modern day militia motivated by mundane things. They wanted to speak to your manager, they would have your job, and they were definitely not satisfied with your service. The number of Karens emerging from the wild reached its high point when the pandemic created a need for masks, distancing, contact tracing, and other interruptions of their entitlement.
XVALA's art illuminates the hidden fallout spawned from our high tech Internet age. His Fear Google campaign exposed the decay of privacy and No Delete used hacked nude celebrity photos to highlight loss of control over personal information. The artist has worked with trash from the homes of Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and others, as well as dirt from the graves of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley. The dirt appears in the New World Order collection as part of a pyramidal, 3D printed, living ant farm, a symbol of the surveillance and conformity the digital state forces on users.
XVALA exposes a blurring between public and private information while supporting privacy, freedom of speech, and content ownership. His Meme Ranch project addresses a theft of both freedom of information and freedom of expression by governments and tech giants.
XVALA is often compared to Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, and Richard Prince. His street art offers satirical commentary on other artists, including Banksy.
- Subject Matter: Cartoon Characters in Vivid Colors
- Created: 2020
- Collections: Large Horizontal Works of Art, Large Scale Paintings