Upper East Side, New York
Group Exhibition
"Take me to your Leader!"
Franklin ParraschLatifa Alajlan, Eleanor Antin, Ida Applebroog, Siah Armajani, Thomas Barrow, Billy Al Bengston, Judy Chicago, Ali Dipp, Philip Guston, Mildred Howard, Mike Kelley, Forrest Kirk, Matthew Kirk, Robert Longo, Calvin Marcus, Bruce Nauman, Catherine Opie, Ken Price, Penny Slinger, Paul Thek, Linda Vallejo Franklin Parrasch and Richard Saltoun are pleased to present "Take me to your Leader!", a group exhibition focused on the effects of authority and coercion and the correlating results of submission. This show concentrates on perceptions of power - real or imagined - from societal, governmental, sexual, religious, and/or extraterrestrial sources of command. The effects of authority and the inclination to follow, conform, and ally with authoritarian voices, connect each of the works in this exhibition. "Take me to your Leader!" draws its title from a now-iconic phrase whose origins trace back to a 1953 New Yorker cartoon by Alex Graham. Two aliens have just landed their UFO in a field on Earth and address a lone horse exclaiming, “Kindly take us to your President!” A simple one-word modification—swapping “President” for “Leader”—transformed the cartoon caption into a cultural touchstone. Since then, "Take me to your Leader!" has become near-ubiquitous shorthand for extraterrestrial contact, echoed in movies and media across the spectrum from the TV series Adventures of Superman and Doctor Who, to the movie Contact, to countless song titles and memes, conveying both humorous and ominous undertones. The artists in this exhibition observe the impact of authority from a variety of perspectives and the way in which that impact contributes to actions and reactions that develop both individually and collectively as a consequence. The diverse range of works included formally examine and thematically focus upon conformity and consensus to either accept or reject structures of imposed power, be they exalted or feared, finding moments within events of unfettered alliance and immunity to empathy for critical enquiry. From its founding in 1986, Franklin Parrasch Gallery has been guided by a conscious reflection on the process of creativity as related to human evolution. As we embark upon our fortieth anniversary in 2026, we are presenting a series of exhibitions throughout the year thematically addressing diverse evolutionary theories as they manifest in the contemporary art discourse.