Deb Sokolow
American, b. 1974
Deb Sokolow's partially fictional, text-driven drawings and collages come from serious research and comical speculation into the details of shadowy histories, manipulative individuals of influence, organizational brainwashing, alternate trajectories of the lives of geniuses and moments when a dark and sometimes humorous pragmatism emerges in one's human nature. Brian Droitcour writes, “Overheard conversations, observed facts, suspicions and guesswork accumulate in a fractured story, told with flow charts, maps, and Xeroxed images rather than smooth narrative transitions. Like a conspiracy theory, Sokolow's drawings assemble enough arguments and facts to impart a sense of a deep logical connection, but determining the presence of truth is left to the viewer, who is pulled into the work by Sokolow's use of the second-person pronoun "you" to refer to her protagonist.” Recent topics include Frank Lloyd Wright's troubles with secretaries, an alternate career trajectory for would-be master illusionist David Copperfield, Kenneth Noland's uninhabited orgasms inside a Reichian Therapy box, and the CIA's failed assassination attempts on Castro.
Submitted by Western Exhibitions


