It’s Time to Fight and It’s Time to Stop Fighting

Steve Lambert
It’s Time to Fight and It’s Time to Stop Fighting

September 15 - October 20, 2012

SHOW CATALOG (PDF)
PRESS RELEASE (PDF)

Charlie 
James 
Gallery 
is 
delighted 
to 
present 
It’s Time to Fight, and It’s Time to Stop Fighting, the
 second 
solo 
show 
by 
gallery 
artist 
Steve 
Lambert.



The
 center piece 
of 
Lambert’s 
upcoming 
show 
is 
Capitalism Works For Me! True/False, 
which 
is 
on 
a
 nationwide 
tour 
of 
museums, 
non‐profits 
and 
public 
spaces 
in 
2011 
and 
2012. 

The 
sign 
has 
been
 exhibited 
in 
Cleveland, 
Boston, 
San
 Diego, 
and 
Santa 
Fe,
 NM 
so 
far 
this 
year, 
and 
its 
travels 
will
 continue 
after 
the 
gallery 
show 
concludes 
in 
October. 

The 
Capitalism 
project 
is 
among 
Lambert’s 
most
 ambitious 
to 
date, 
in 
both 
its 
scale 
and 
its 
level 
of 
provocation. 

The 
sign 
itself 
blares 
a 
question 
seldom
 posed 
so 
clearly, 
while 
also 
serving 
to 
divine 
public 
opinion 
and 
understanding 
about 
capitalism. 

At
 every 
stop 
on 
the 
sign’s
 aforementioned 
tour, 
Lambert 
interviews 
viewers 
about 
their 
experience 
of
 the
 piece, 
posing 
whether 
capitalism 
does 
in 
fact 
‘work 
for 
them’. 

These 
video‐captured
 testimonials
 illustrate 
how 
people 
define 
and
 understand 
capitalism, 
and
 their 
relationship 
to 
it.



Lambert 
will 
also 
present 
five 
new 
sign 
sculptures 
that 
amplify 
the 
question(s) 
posed 
in 
Capitalism. 

If
 the 
Capitalism 
project 
asks 
its 
question(s) 
to 
the 
vox 
populi,
 this 
group 
of 
five 
new
 sign 
sculptures
 speaks 
directly 
to 
the 
demographic 
of 
people 
equipped 
to 
acquire 
them.
 
Reflecting 
a 
fresh 
awareness
 that 
a 
broad 
swath 
of 
corporate 
and
 individual 
1%‐ers 
have 
collected
 his 
work
 over 
three 
years 
of
 gallery
 exhibitions, 
Lambert 
has
 decided
 to
 create 
visual 
reminders, 
admonitions, 
and 
encouragements
 to 
those 
in 
positions 
to 
collect
 the
 work.
 
Using
 combinations
 of
 neon 
and 
incandescent
 lights,
 one
 piece 
exclaims 
GIVE 
AND 
GIVE 
AND 
GIVE! 

Another 
reminds 
viewers 
to 
TELL 
THE 
TRUTH, 
while 
another
 one 
warns 
of 
the 
inverse 
relationship 
that 
can 
operate 
between
 WEALTH
 and 
HAPPINESS. 


 A 
book 
compiling 
the 
tour 
of 
the 
Capitalism 
project,
 including 
this 
gallery 
exhibition,
 is 
being 
compiled
 now
 and 
will 
be
 published 
in 
2013.


Steve 
Lambert 
(b.
1976 
Los 
Angeles)
 is
 cofounder 
and 
director 
of 
the 
Center 
for 
Artistic 
Activism 
and
 recently 
accepted 
a 
faculty 
appointment 
to 
SUNY 
Purchase.
 
His 
work 
has 
been 
exhibited
 internationally 
and 
is 
in 
the 
permanent 
collections 
of 
the 
Sheldon 
Museum, 
the 
Progressive 
Insurance
 Company 
collection 
and 
the 
US
 Library 
of 
Congress, 
among 
others.
 
He
 has
 collaborated 
with 
the 
Yes
 Men, 
winning 
awards
 from 
Prix 
Arts 
Electronica,
 Rhizome/The 
New 
Museum,
 the
 Creative 
Work 
Fund,
 Adbusters 
Media 
Foundation, 
the 
California
 Arts 
Council, 
and 
others. 

Previous 
to 
his 
SUNY
 appointment
 Lambert 
was 
a 
faculty 
member 
@ 
SMFA 
Boston, 
and 
a 
Senior 
Fellow 
@
 the 
Eyebeam
 Center 
for 
Arts 
and 
Technology 
before 
that.
 
Lambert 
earned 
his 
BFA
 @
 the 
San 
Francisco 
Art 
Institute
 and 
his 
MFA 
from 
UC 
Davis. 

Lambert 
lives 
and 
works 
in 
Beacon,
 NY.


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