The “New Communism” is an ideology whose time has come. It espouses a belief that ecology is central to human survival, elevates art to an essential category, and promotes a humanistic acceptance of consumerism and the body. The New Communism reflects a time in which power relations have shifted to fresh areas of contention. The tired binary battle lines have splintered and there is a light dusting of style where once there was pedagogy. The New Communism shines a light on these hidden new oppositions, revealing the inevitable conflict in our “democracy.”

A thematic thread through the show is the all prevailing cultural opposition in America today between the northern “blue states” and southern “red states.” Horowitz has redesigned the American flag as a gradated landscape of six stripes going from blue on top to red on the bottom, reinvesting the flag with this north/south color symbolism. Other works in the show include The New Beetle, a Prius, and The New Slavery, a painting on cotton canvas made with illegal immigrant labor. Additional works address commemorative ribbon car magnets, recycling, and the politics of Hemp. As a text piece in the entry way will state, “Under The New Communism, phone calls to Gavin Brown’s enterprise will be answered by Gavin Brown himself.”

Also featured in the show is the premiere of a new two-channel video installation about the relationship between Elvis Presley and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker. Extending the North/South metaphor, the piece is structured around a mind (The Colonel) and body (Elvis) opposition. The piece culminates in Elvis’s historic appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1956, in which he was castrated by network censors who insisted that he be shot only from the waist up.

Additionally, Horowitz’ video installation Silent Movie (2003) will be on view at Yvon Lambert Gallery (New York), from October 15 to November 12.