The meaning of Disney and its symbols permeates much deeper than childhood entertainment, and In 2010, artist Jeff Gillette proved that with his solo show, Dismayland, featuring eye-popping juxtapositions of Mickey Mouse iconography looming over slums and shanty towns. The work catapulted him to international fame, when five years later, Gillette was featured in Banksy's Dismaland, a live theme park parody of The Magic Kingdom (which may have been inspired by Gillette to begin with). Now he's taking both these concepts to the next level.
In Total Dismay, Gillette will transformed Gregorio Escalante Gallery into a literal "art landfill," where patrons will have to traipse through piles of Gillette's signed and numbered prints in order to view never-before-seen, large-scale paintings and smaller works.
(The basement gallery hosted a separate group show curated by Gillette featuring works by his wife, Laurie Hassold, Samir Parker, Gireesh GV, Bill Barminski, Nick Walker, and Sandow Birk.)
All photos and video by Birdman for Juxtapoz.