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America’s most famous work of art, the Statue of Liberty, welcomes all immigrants to her shore. Made by a French sculptor in France, and then shipped overseas in crates, there is a certain irony to Lady Liberty becoming a supremely American icon. Yet, at the same time, that is often the history of cultural assimilation in the United States; a nation of immigrants that become undeniably American. Some believe this sort of cultural erasure of origins is to be rejected.
Not Sean Go. A Filipino immigrant to the United States, the finance-entrepreneur-turned-artist is closely following a lineage of pop appropriation masters which arguably included the Romans, as they appropriated Greek myths, and more recently Jeff Koons with his controversial yet universally known Celebration series. Rather than rejecting outright the role assimilation and appropriation can play, Go is himself appropriating American popular culture iconography to proliferate ideas that speak to values, narratives, and stories that may have you rethink the American status quo. In a polarizing world, he hopes that instead of dividing, art can connect and bring people together.
One shining example of Go’s style, “The Iron Legion,” depicts Marvel’s Iron Man half ironclad and half deeply exposed, with muscle and sinew showing. By using a ubiquitous American icon, Go challenges the notion of American masculinity. Tony Stark, the hero behind the suit, made his living as an entrepreneur profiting off of mass death. As one of America’s largest exports, weapons do not seem to make us stronger. Instead, this veil of masculinity is simply that: a suit we cover ourselves in to appear strong.
Another of Go’s great works, “Halo halo,” portrays three Spartan super soldiers – from the American video game sensation Halo – staring at the Filipino dessert known as halo halo. As a largely multiplayer experience, the game is enjoyed globally, and anyone anywhere can play together. Even though a thoroughly American media experience, everyone brings their own understanding online, and Americans interface with many different types of people as they game. “Halo halo” is a potent reminder that America does not have a monopoly on happiness and community and that there are other means by which people get together and share joy.
Finally, in Go’s world of funky pop, his piece “3 Little Pigs Construction Company” showcases the 3 Little Pigs are on the Forbes Magazine Covers, celebrated as successful entrepreneurs in real estate development. The piece alludes to the Guardian’s Three Little Pigs ad, which interprets the 3 Little Pigs as insurance frauds, and the Big Bad Wolf as a victim. Essentially, Go likes to rethink possible permutations and combinations, an apt analogy for how we can all dictate our own paths if we have the will to do so.
As the works demonstrate, Go understands the intricacies of America’s ideas better than most, and this understanding allows him to subvert them. Go is himself an immigrant, having moved from the Philippines when he turned 18 years old. Since then, Go has graduated a stunning seven times from many top American institutions, like UC Berkeley and Columbia University, where he learned to question that status quo and to never lose his hunger to learn novel ideas, even if accepting them may be difficult. In 2018, Go launched his own investment fund, and although seeing great success in this field, particularly in early stage venture capital, he ultimately took a step back from the world of finance for his true calling of art. Unsurprisingly, Go has exploded onto the art scene in the past year, already securing multiple shows in countries around the world. Go’s work has been collected by art festival and museum directors in Asia, and has a strong following in Indonesia and the Philippines – his home country. In a way, Go transfers his skill in his prior ventures to art – he narrates timeless stories that propel his communities forward.
To see some of Sean Go’s art yourself, click here.
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