- accentrikproductio
ANDREW THIELE-MORAL COMPASS
MORAL COMPASS MARKS THIELE’S SECOND SHOW EVER
Gallery 8 played host to versatile and humble mixed media artist Andrew Thiele for only his second exhibition-Moral Compass. Held from June 27th through June 30th, Thiele led visitors on a journey of self as he revealed iconic influences from his past and opened the eyes of said visitors to current threats to morality. Pieces at the forefront, Rumble in the Jungle, United/Divided and Checks share the same spotlight as other featured pieces such as Liberty, Times Square and even the Gold Items installation. In an interview with Thiele, the artist was quick to elaborate on the meaning of the moral compass: “The moral compass starts from within and it starts with you”.
The start of the moral compass starts with how you perceive the world around you. The pieces Liberty and We The People are the epitome of perception, with Liberty reflecting the “blind justice” carried out by the current White House’s policy on immigration and the myriad of headlines distributed by news outlets across the country displayed by We The People. Perception is not clearly focused when the news cycles between stories of “a kid gets shot, Kylie Jenner gets a fake ass, and the Yankees win”. The moral compass fails to function when one has to perform their job despite the wrong-doings of their supervisor. Lady Liberty is blind but “justice” is not just when not acted upon without thinking. United/Divided is the coming together of every perception. We can all be divided be region or belief or be united by the same factors. Even if we are all united, there will be another we stand in division with.
In order to calibrate one’s moral compass, sometimes examples of history must be given. Through the works of Times Square, Keys and Gold Items, Thiele reveals the details that inspired his journey to find his moral compass. Times Square and Keys are throwbacks to the pre-Giuliani days of NYC’s heart with Gold Items acting as a shrine to practically everything Thiele has used in his life (beepers, old cell phones, baby shoes). Another homage to Thiele’s upbringing is the use of various ripped up Nike sneakers in Checks; where majority of the sneakers used were his and the turning point of when he decided to “Just Do It”. Rumble in the Jungle is another throwback to the famous Muhammad Ali fight set over a collage of NYC symbols; further tying in Thiele’s memories into his art.
Thiele proudly demonstrated what he is about; something that tends to get lost when one works commercially. When Thiele can combine his artistic and creative freedom with the power of large branding, he is truly happy. Fantastically quoting the late Nipsey Hussle: “the marathon never stops”.
Andrew Thiele is the founder and creative director of Artek Creative Inc. NYC; available for corporate branding work as well as an artist by commission. His work from Moral Compass and more is available on andrewthiele.bigcartel.com and you can visit his creative agency at arteknyc.com or through social media @Arteknyc.
Check out our full interview with Thiele below:
Moral Compass
Image 1 of 52