Post-Standard Article -- Melinda Johnson

Yes Men cancel show at Warehouse


Thursday, September 20, 2007
By Melinda Johnson
Arts editor

One of the major exhibits this year at The Warehouse Gallery has been cancelled because of the termination this month of the gallery's director, Astria Suparak.

The Yes Men - who are variously described as social activist art or performance artists, anti-corporate activists - have cancelled their November exhibit, "Keeping It Slick: Infiltrating Capitalism With the Yes Men."

"The reason we cancelled The Warehouse exhibition is because we'd only agreed to do it because of Astria's discretion, persistence and inventivity," wrote Andy Bichlbaum, one of the principals of The Yes Men, in an e-mail.

In his electronic message, Bichlbaum stated that The Yes Men rarely do art shows because it's "too time-absorbing." The exception is "when they intersect with some other more important activity in a direct way."

The Yes Men express their art and activism during encounters with unsuspecting people. They have impersonated politicians, corporate executives and speakers while delivering their political messages.

Besides The Warehouse Gallery exhibit, The Yes Men were to give a lecture and a feature-length film on their activities was to be screened. All of these programs were to be part of Syracuse University's year-long Syracuse Symposium. This year's theme is justice.

On Wednesday, Jeffrey Hoone, who oversees The Warehouse Gallery as the executive director of the Coalition of Museum and Art Centers at Syracuse University, said The Yes Men had not notified him of cancellation of the exhibit.

But, if that is the case, he said an exhibit of contemporary art would be installed in place of The Yes Men at the gallery, which is part of Syracuse University.

"We'll continue with our commitments that we've made to the community about the gallery and to look forward," he said.