Panel Conversation:
Lee Fang, Juan Obando, and Yoshua Okón

Join us for a conversation with journalist Lee Fang and DEMO exhibition artists Juan Obando and Yoshua Okón. The event will feature Fang discussing his work related to civil liberties, interest group lobbying, and other public interest issues, followed by an participatory conversation on themes from “astroturfing” and crowds for rent to the technologies of information manipulation with Obando and Okón. Moderated by exhibition curator Julio César Morales.

In-kind support provided by EXO Coffee.

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About DEMO

DEMO is a multimedia exhibition by artists Juan Obando and Yoshua Okón that explores the practice of “astroturfing”—a marketing ploy that generates fake public demonstrations intended to appear as grassroots political movements. Through video, sculptures, and installation, the artists expose how astroturfing methods are used to manipulate public perceptions and neutralize political action. Engaging the aesthetic, gestural, and performative dimensions of astroturfing, Obando and Okón highlight the power of disinformation on public perception, and urge us to consider the deep-seated intersections of visual culture, civic protest, concentrated capital, and political mechanisms.

About the panelists

Lee Fang is an independent journalist, primarily writing on Substack at leefang.com. From 2015-2023, he was an investigative reporter for The Intercept and has previously written for The Nation and VICE, among other outlets. Fang’s work uncovering illegal foreign influence in the American campaign finance system led to one of the largest Federal Election Commission fines in American history. He writes about civil liberties, interest group lobbying, and other public interest issues. 

Yoshua Okón’s work often blends staged environments with reality and history to raise questions of authenticity, commerce, politics, and cultural exchange. Described by Okón as near-sociological experiments, his works give audiences a unique insight into the subjects he portrays and evokes a sense of interconnectivity with issues normally considered removed from our everyday lives. His solo exhibitions include: Colateral, MUAC, Mexico City and Museo Amparo, Mexico, Yoshua Okón: In the Land of Ownership, ASAKUSA, Tokyo and Octopus, Hammer Museum, Los Ángeles. His group exhibitions include: Manifesta 11, Zurich; Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul; Gwangju Biennale, Korea; Musèe Cantonal des Beux-Arts, Lausanne; Mercosur Biennial, Porto Alegre; CCA Wattis, San Francisco;, Hayward Gallery, London; New Museum, NY PS1, MoMA, NY, and Kunstwerke, Berlin. His work is included in the collections of the Tate Modern, Hammer Museum, LACMA, Colección Jumex and MUAC, among others. He is also the founder of SOMA, an arts-based experimental academic program in Mexico City and was the co-founder of the artist-run space La Panaderia.

Juan Obando creates artwork that focuses on the critical intervention of social systems and the production of video-performances, post-digital objects, and screen-based installations. In his work, Obando presents the screen as a site where ideology confronts aesthetics and new worlds are speculated.. His work has been exhibited in México, France, Colombia, Germany, and the US. His recent solo shows include at General Expenses, Mexico City; and at Galería Santa Fé for the Luis Caballero National Art Prize, Bogotá. His group exhibitions include; Transmediale, Berlin, Germany, Centre Pompidou, Paris; MassArt Museum, Boston; Palais de Tokyo, Paris. His work is part of collections such as The Perez Museum (Miami, FL, USA) and Kadist (San Francisco, USA, and Paris, France). He was awarded a Rhizome commission from The New Museum in 2012, a MassArt Foundation grant in 2017, and an Art Matters Fellowship in 2019. He is currently an Associate Professor of Art at Arizona State University in Phoenix, AZ.

Image Credit: Juan Obando and Yoshua Okón, DEMO (video still), 2022. Courtesy of the artists and Proyectos Monclova.