Fake news gets a reality check in artist Felix R. Cid’s voluminous series of photomontages entitled _The Sword of Damocles_. The intricate photographs will be exhibited at [Garis & Hahn’s](http://garisandhahn.com/) gallery-cum-Kunsthalle (fancy German for art gallery) from November 4 - December 16, 2017. The photos capture actions of civil disobedience from Cid’s travels around the world from a bird’s eye view, including one very close to home depicting “Inauguration Day” (Jan 20, 2017), after which Donald Trump’s administration issued a false statement accusing the mainstream media of unfair framing (to make crowd numbers appear underwhelming).
Felix R. Cid
_Untitled (Trump Inauguration)_, 2017
Digital Pigment Print
63 by 86 inches
Edition of 5
Courtesy of the artist and Garis & Hahn
In addition to the six composite images, which also include a pink mosaic of feminist prowess at the Women’s March in D.C., and another march protesting Trump’s unwillingness to release his tax returns (clearly galvanizing a larger turnout than Inauguration Day), audiences can behold a massive pile of rubble from a destroyed Greco-Roman style pillar. The combining effect of the montages and anchoring ancient debris represents the “crumbling” of civilized civilization - seen in the destruction of public monuments around the world, especially in the Americas, and strikes up much needed conversations to be had regarding the fallacy of unchecked power and a resulting undoing of democracy.
Felix R. Cid
_Untitled (Trump Taxes)_, 2017
Digital Pigment Print
63 by 86 inches
Edition of 5
Courtesy of the artist and Garis & Hahn
The exhibition’s opening coincides with the one-year anniversary of Trump’s inauguration. Audiences can commemorate or lament the historical moment by viewing _The Sword of Damocles_ starting November 4, 2017.
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Written by: Kara Powell
All photographs by: Felix R. Cid
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