The Forgotten Laborers

Yesterday was Labor Day, the U.S. holiday celebrating the contributions of laborers and workers. But has anyone given a thought to the contributions of hard-working online scammers and con artists? No? Just look at their good work: I received this email last month from “Meta”. It looks pretty real, but it isn’t. When you click on “Go to Form” it takes you to the second page, which wants your Instagram username. And from there the scammers will attempt to steal your account.

Several months ago, online scammers hijacked my Facebook page and it took weeks, and a lot of time, persistence and the help of a couple of outstanding social media experts to finally get it back. The whole experience was so disheartening I did a painting about it — this is “Identity Thief”:

This character is based on Kitsune, a fox spirit in Japanese folklore who has the ability to shape-shift into human form and trick or fool human beings. “Identity Thief” will be on exhibit November 9-December 5, 2024 in the “Paracosmic Escape” International Exhibition at Modern Eden Gallery in San Fransisco. The exhibit is sponsored by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.

Cool Show Alert!

On September 13 Rehs Contemporary Gallery in New York City will open “The Art of Subversion,” a first-of-its-kind exhibition featuring a provocative blend of street art, tattoo-inspired art, and functional glass art. The gallery explains that the term ‘subversion’ is defined as “the undermining of the power and authority of an established system or institution.” With that, the goal is to initiate a broader conversation about how artwork is understood in our contemporary world. Should be pretty rowdy! I’ll have two fun pieces in the show: “Bearly Buzzed” and “Bad Bunny”.