Activist Artist Nathan Janes Introduces Pupaganda.com with Release of Painting and Article
Nathan Janes has announced the release of his latest original painting titled, “TV Mind-Control” to celebrate the unveiling of the new website http://Pupaganda.com. The website features several of Janes’ works, which explore prominent social issues of today while employing the family dog as muse. Each painting throughout Janes’ website will be paired with an article written by Janes that further explores the issues introduced through his works of art. Janes’ latest piece examines the role of television in American culture; the painting depicts a Weimaraner, which appears to be hypnotized by an old-fashioned television airing a “stand-by” screen in the background. After much study of the subject, Janes has written an expansive article, which provides information about the control of television programming and how it can be used to control the viewer. Janes says that he sees himself as an activist as well as an artist and that the new website serves as an important tool in communicating messages he hopes will affect awareness in those who view his art.
Activist Artist: Nathan Janes
While once engaged by the television set and other forms of the mass media, Nathan Janes began to notice that the reality that he was being sold was not his own. In a society saturated with meaningless advertising art with no substance Janes became inspired to create works that would both inspire individual thought and awaken ones social conscious. According to Janes, “It’s time people quit living a life of constant entertainment and start engaging in critical thought while questioning the barrage of commercial images and propaganda that they are faced with each day.”
Janes strives to combat the popular perception that fine art can only be in certain styles or of certain subjects. According to Janes, “Now more than ever I am striving to push my work so that the family pet is used as an artistic tool to depict deeper questions and messages about our society. Everyone can relate to the family dog but not everyone has a cognizance of the social issues that I depict in my paintings. The dogs serve as a bridge for individuals to journey into topics and questions that they may have never explored before but certainly affect their lives nonetheless.”
“It’s difficult to make it in the art world when you are an independent artist competing against those that have assistance creating their work or even have factory lines that produce their original works of art for them. Most well known artists become known because they have money backing them or they are part of the machine, which has created the corporatization of art. Sorry but that’s not me, I’d rather speak out about something I believe in and struggle, then be silent and get paid. At the end of the day I would rather have a disappointment while following my own vision than a success while conforming to the corporate art world. Too many artists are slaves of the corporate world. I want to be an artist that represents truth and creates paintings that represent the concerns of today. I want my artwork to be viewed as a weapon in the infowar as we fight our way into peoples’ consciousness through the arts. “
Janes is a graduate of the Columbus College of Art & Design and resides in northern Ohio with his wife, son, and two dogs.
