Perhaps the best-known instance of the term ‘Helter Skelter’ in pop culture is in the Beatles song of that name, which was written by Paul McCartney as an invocation of chaos and was famously seized upon by Charles Manson as an invocation to start a race war. The ways in which pop culture has shaped the United States, for good and for ill, are at the heart of a show that pairs the artists Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince, both of whom often appropriate images from TV, film, cartoons, sport and more in their films, sculptures, photographs and paintings (9 May–23 November). The tension is embodied in one of Jafa’s most famous video works, Love is the Message, the Message is Death (2016), which documents Black lives in the United States and constantly moves between joy and trauma. Paintings, photographs and sculptures by Prince are also on display here, ranging from a cast of a mid-century American motorcycle to a collage of stills from Taxi Driver and a picture of a Freddie Mercury performance – all combining to give an offbeat portrait of contemporary America.
Find out more from the Fondazione Prada’s website.
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