Breaking News

Art Twenty One presents Breaking News, a group exhibition that explores the politics and mechanisms of the mass media. Featuring artists working in painting, drawing, photography, video and installation, Breaking News questions how information is disseminated, fact is constructed, and how social and political life are filtered through the lens of the culture industry.

In a world of twenty-four hour news cycles and virtual communications, how does the media shape our society and define who we are? Permeating our daily lives in the ever-present bombardment of headlines and images, these artists question not only the content of the news but its very framework. Whether critiquing current events or its distribution in newspapers, television, and the Internet, they form a self-reflexive view of the media, identifying how it forms our personal and collective worldview.

These artists are critical about divergent social and political issues in Nigeria, from violence and government corruption to Nollywood and popular consumer trends. They look at how Nigeria is defined in the local and global news media, and how cultural myths are articulated and perpetuated. In an act subversion, these artists cut, crop, and shred the vernacular news archive, a literal and symbolic act of destruction. Rather than succumb to the commercial pressures of the media industry, they create a visual language to portray new perspectives and alternative narratives. Are we melting into the static of our technological screens, or is there still room for individuality in our new media world?