Freedom of the Press

"Freedom of the Press", is a series of paintings that artist Aaron Axerod has produced to explore the current state of the press and more in depth, TV media. Almost all major media outlets are owned and operated by large corporate conglomerates which have their own set of personal and political agendas, which by definition, obscure and under represent the facts, all of which deceives and misleads the public. Using techniques to create the aesthetics of "bad" TV signals, the paintings which Axelrod has created, become metaphors for the unclear and altered information in the contemporary media. "Freedom of the Press" not only depicts specific individuals and current events (i.e. "Crisis in Darfur", "Swine- Flu", "Osama bin Laden"), but also targets major television programs and the pundits that report and offer their own views about them as well (i.e. "Chris Matthews", "Brian Williams", "Fox News", etc)

The paintings reflect not just the concepts around the subject matter, but by the mediums/materials in which they're produced. For instance the traditional use of pastels, often thought to be a medium used to create soft, gentle and unassuming paintings are in this series, being used to make large, pieces of subversive and controversial subject matter. The light box paintings, offer the idea of painting with light, which gives the same aesthetic as a television in a room, discharging colorful light fractures which get reflected of the walls and floor of the room.

"Our newspapers, for the most part, present only the caricatures of disaffected minds. Indeed, the abuses of the freedom of the press here have been carried to a length never before known or borne by any civilized nation."
--Thomas Jefferson, 1803

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