Williamsburg Art & Historical Center (WAH Center) in Brooklyn, New York, from 7 October–20 November 2011.
Presented at the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center (WAH Center) in Brooklyn, New York, from 7 October–20 November 2011, The Potato Revolution: Cult of Potato 2011 was an international exhibition of contemporary potato art organized by Jeffrey Allen Price.
The exhibition brought together twenty artists from eight countries in one of the largest international exhibitions of contemporary potato art organized to date. Working across photography, painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, installation, video, performance, and collections, the participating artists demonstrated that the potato could function not only as a source of humor, but also as a vehicle for historical, cultural, symbolic, political, and personal expression.
Conceived during a period marked by global protests, economic uncertainty, and widespread calls for social change, the exhibition adopted the language of revolution as a playful yet sincere metaphor for a growing grassroots artistic movement centered around the potato. Rather than advocating political revolution, the project proposed a cultural revolution—one rooted in creativity, curiosity, community, and the remarkable symbolic potential of an ordinary vegetable.
The works ranged from the historical to the humorous, from the sacred to the profane, from the mundane to the mystical. Together, the artists revealed that the potato was capable of supporting an unexpectedly broad range of artistic investigations and interpretations.
Simultaneously, the first floor of the historic building was transformed into The Potato Revolution Café, an immersive installation featuring over one thousand potato-related artifacts and artworks from Price’s collection. During special events, visitors were offered potato-themed refreshments, including potato chips and potato vodka, while exploring what was then the largest public presentation of the collection.
A special event on 11.11.11 featured the debut performance of POTATOTRON, Price’s potato-themed musical project, which presented original songs and potato-inspired cover versions as part of the exhibition’s public programming.
Today, The Potato Revolution: Cult of Potato 2011 remains one of the largest and most ambitious international potato-art exhibitions organized to date and represents an important milestone in the development of both Cult of Potato and the broader history of POTATOISM.
Participating Artists
Michiel Brink • Ginou Choueiri • Jon Cone and Archie Rand • Adrián Villa Dávila • Anna Alicja Feitzinger • Beth Giacummo • Jean-Louis Gonterre • Allan Innman • Lucy Kippin • Viviane le Courtois • Andrzej Maciejewski • Paul McMahon • Annalisa Nutt • Kitty Owens • Sherry Owens • Jeffrey Allen Price • Italo Scanga • Adam Taye • Chad Woody
Related Projects:
→ Occupying Potato: Cult of Potato 2012
Related Documentation:
→ Institute Chronice:The Potato Revolution Exhibition-Mash-Up (Video)