"1984"
Mark Vallen. Silkscreen print
29" x 21" inches - $100

Created in late 1983, this artwork was initially a 29 x 21 inch pencil drawing I then reworked into a black and white silkscreen print to be posted on city streets. Around 200 silkscreen posters were published and distributed around L.A. on the eve of 1984.

Intended as throw away street posters, the prints are imperfect and roughly printed but otherwise in perfect condition.

Of course the title of my artwork came from George Orwell's novel concerning a dystopian society ruled through propaganda, fear, and raw police power.

Having first read the book as a 15-year-old in 1968, it did much to shape my political philosophy, and when the actual year rolled around I felt compelled - given the miserable state of the world - to create an artwork that would facetiously "celebrate" our own entry into a nightmare social order.