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Grupo De Gago - Pssst Gago! sticker
Regular price $50.00
Pssst Gago! sticker.
Los Angeles: Grupo De Gago, 1993.
Printed sticker is yellowed at edges.
Stickiness to back has faded in places with paper backing coming loose.
Scarce 1993 sticker produced by Grupo de Gago.
Grupo De Gago was a Los Angeles area Filipino-American art collective which included Ferdinand Agriam and Manuel Ocampo.
"Five Filipino artists, who call themselves Grupo de Gago, created a twelve-foot banner to announce the annual Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture, entitled "Ugat Pilipino: Filipino Roots." The work, which includes a dog roasting on a spit labeled "This is America" with a swastika for a handle, a monkey, a rosary, a Star of David, and the festival sponsors' names, was hung in the Los Angeles City Hall rotunda near several other paintings and sculptures, some of which depict images of female genitalia.
Three days following the opening of the exhibit, city cultural affairs head Adolfo Nodal began receiving complaints from building employees claiming the banner was racist, promoted stereotypes of Filipinos as dog-eaters and monkeys, and displayed unnecessary cruelty to animals. Nodal had the banner removed, claiming it was not artwork but rather an informational sign promoting an event.
In an statement the artists claimed the banner was political expression, and as a result, Nodal agreed to reinstall the banner, organized a public forum to discuss the controversy, and requested that the festival committee be present at the exhibit at all times to "insure informed dialogue between artist, the committee and the public." The reinstalled banner was modified by the artists during the controversy, and the roasting dog was replaced with a smiling dog leaping into a swimming pool, as a man in the background barbecues on a grill. Three works in the exhibit with female genitalia were replaced with cartoon characters."
- https://www.ntticc.or.jp/en/feature/1995/The_Museum_Inside_The_Network/fileroom/documents/Cases/208grupo.html