Parade of the Old New

Parade of the Old New

Artist: Zoe Beloff

Gallery: LES Gallery

Dates: May 20th - June 12th 2022

Opening Reception: May 26th 4-6pm

The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural & Educational Center presents ‘Parade of the Old New’, a solo presentation of works by Zoe Beloff including a large format mural on cardboard and a correlating publication.

A panoramic history painting, acrylic on 40 x 60 inch corrugated cardboard panels. Total length 130 feet (39.5m) It is an allegory of the American body politic. The title is taken from a 1938 poem by Bertolt Brecht that inspired the theme of this work; now more than ever, we are not finished with the past and the past is not finished with us. The project was launched with Trump's inauguration and continued until he was defeated at the ballot box. It begins with the president's triumphal entry into Washington DC. Beyond stretches a country where the Mexican border walls meets Japanese internment camps from the 1940’s at a vanishing point. It chronicles the desecration of public lands for profit, the battle of Charlottesville, the arrest of undocumented workers across the country and the detention of asylum seekers at the border. It illustrates the toll of COVID 19, the work of the nurses, the breadlines, young people painting "Black Lives Matter” mapping a road ahead, the storming of the Capitol and finally the flickering light of what might be a new beginning.

The exhibition also includes an accordion book that reproduces Parade of the Old New. Created between 2017 and 2021, the picture is an allegory of the American body politic in dark times inspired by Bertolt Brecht’s poem. On the reverse of the accordion, you will find Beloff’s essay The Troublemakers: History Painting in the Real World .

The book ‘Parade of the Old New’ was published in August 2021
40 panel accordion book 12,2 x 19 cm, limited edition of 350
In the USA, the book can be purchased from Booklyn

PRESS:

‘Scenes From a Refugee Childhood’, hyperallergic