The lead up to America’s war in Iraq, and other political events during the Bush administration’s first term, pressed questions concerning the nature and authority of the truth: Do facts no longer carry weight as the basis of truth-claims? Is modern life so hyper-mediated that we can’t distinguish between news and spin, character and costuming, truth and lies? And what role does art play in our perception of reality? Does it serve to sustain illusions or rather to articulate truths about life? Must the two—truth and illusion—be treated as opposites?

MISSION 17 invited submissions to our second annual juried show that articulated and explored these questions. Variations on the theme included: a) authenticity and artifice, b) fear and illusion, c) the economics of (self-) deception, d) art, advertising, and propaganda, e) the political power or powerlessness of artwork, f) technology and truth-telling, etc. …

Juried by Clark Buckner, Bob Callaway, Jason Mortara, and Julia Page

VICTOR BARBIERI
CHARLES BERONIO
MATTHEW BOYKO
ELIZABETH CHILES
MARK DUKES
KATHRYN DUNLEVIE
LINDA FORDE and PAM MARTIN
LORI GORDON
DUSTIN FOSNOT
THERESA GOOBY
SARAH LOCKHART and GORDON WINIEMKO
VANESSA MARSH
EILEEN STARR MODERBACHER
CHAD MOORE
SUSAN O’MALLEY
JOSHUA PIEPER
LISA RICCI
BEN RIESMAN
LIZABETH ROSSOF
CHRIS THORSON
MICHAEL TRIGILIO
JAKE WATLING