john zinonos

Taking on the personas of spokespeople, corporate representatives, government agents, and executives, the Yes Men are an inspiring artist-activist group who have had a long history of infiltrating meetings, conferences, and news broadcasts in order to spread awareness of critical issues on an international scale.

In their elaborate hoaxes and interventions, they use identity correction, culture jamming, and creative activism tactics to reveal the absurdity and lack of ethics within the corporate and political world, while providing glimpses of how these politicians and corporations should behave in order to help create and sustain a more just world.

Presenting a survey of memorable interventions, videos, documents, and objects from the past decade, the exhibition highlights the Yes Men’s continual efforts to spark resistance to the forces of evil. The show also features two new projects created during the last presidential election and in its aftermath, serving as a reminder of the urgency needed to respond to the corporate greed and fear-mongering that has hijacked democracy in the U.S.  

Using their characteristic humor, the exhibition reflects upon the Yes Men’s contributions to our understanding of creative resistance, as well as the importance of cultivating a participatory culture in which we pledge our individual agency to building a better world that is not only a possibility but an irresistible reality.

Sotheby’s Institute of Art, New York
570 Lexington Avenue, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10022
Exhibition open from Nov 29th – Dec 04th