Illegal Art - Art Show

Art Show

Illegal Art is also the title of an art exhibit/project sponsored by Stay Free! Magazine, who asked permission from the label for the use of their name. The exhibit debuted in New York City and has since traveled to several other cities. Subsequently this show of appropriated art was appropriated by San Francisco based artists Elliot Lessing and Gordon Winiemko; the two artists created a "shadow" website, www.illegal-art.com (the "Stay Free" show's site is www.illegal-art.org) and reflecting their concerns about the simplistic binary implied by "illegal art," they launched a show at the now defunct BUILD artspace, called "I Want a Mainstream." The show was a collection of "mainstream" artwork (from movies, popular music, design, and such) to which visitors could offer up their own selections. It also included images from the "Illegal Art" show appropriated from the web.