Three tightly organized grids of inked drawings of Diet Coke cans from the series “Alcoholism” (all works 2016) hang on one of the stripped-back walls of the living room that doubles as this artist-run space. Opposite these, above a fireplace, is a large digital print, Alcoscopolism, depicting floating thought bubbles containing sexually suggestive imagery from Coca-Cola’s recent “Taste the Feeling” advertising campaign alongside pictures of Andy Warhol, Martin Kippenberger, and tipsy Helmut Newton models. This arrangement serves as a mood board for Dan Mitchell’s exhibition, collaging marketing ideology with scopophilia.
The show, also titled “Alcoholism,” is packed with Mitchell’s astute interpretations of capital’s illusions and habitual addictions. He is attentive to how a product is marketed to the point where consumerism itself is the commodity, sold through its repeated representation. In the drawings, the soda cans are already open; these empty vessels are the artwork already devoured. As an über-brand, Diet Coke is substitutive—no calories, no sugar—and while it might be this artist’s social lubricant of choice, the title of the show is nevertheless a red herring. These works aren’t really about compulsive drinking but are more focused on associating obsession with looking as a means to grasp the potency of images. For instance, in the middle of Alcoscopolism is a recognizable still from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 Rear Window, reworked so that the artist’s grinning face is superimposed over Jimmy Stewart’s, while Diet Coke cans are reflected in the lens of the camera he holds—finally capturing the objects of his voyeurism.
