Us by Us Gallery is excited to announce the first goup show in the new gallery: “Drinking Kool-Aid: A Cult Following Art Show.” The show explores the allure and complexity of cult-like fascination in society—whether it’s a loyal following of a band or movie, subversive belief, or pop-culture craze.
Opening Reception was on December 13, 2024, (6PM - 10PM) at Us by Us Gallery, 801 Main Street, Covington, Kentucky.
Alexis Strong
If there is a God, he is either not all powerful or not all good. He cannot simultaneously be both. Yet there are those who continue to blindly follow, even at the cost of women’s rights to their bodies and autonomy. I created this piece to show how sinister it can be to have something always watching.
Andy Sohoza
I didn’t make this with cults in mind. I made it with me in mind. And while I could spin that as a cult of one, or try to bullshit my way into making it a pandering red-state sociopolitical commentary, that would be misleading. Fortunately, at the bottom of this stack of solipsistic free association lies the cognitive dissonance all cult behavior is ultimately built on. That psychological contortion required to see distant celebrities as friends, brands as culture, dependence as love, hate as pride, or weakness as strength, is a reflexive solution for a disquieting world, and that reflex lies within all of us. This piece was an attempt to de-romanticize a place and people (myself included) once deified that way in my work, and force myself to confront the totality of what it was all along.
Bernard Edmonds
We move as we’re told, turn where we’re led. Tested. Trapped. The maze expands, but the walls stay the same. Every choice feels like freedom until you see the ceiling. A cultural idol appears—a Rat Messiah. We follow, devout and desperate. Salvation sold by the ounce, meaning measured in likes and shares.
Who leads the way? Who holds the cheese?
This is a reverence for our systems, for the god we’ve made in our own image. A rat king.
& I’m Not Even Supposed To Be Here Today
Bradley Day
A while back, Dick, Barry and I agreed, that what really matters is what you like, not what you are like. Books, records, films, these things matter. Call me shallow. It’s the fucking truth. -Rob Gordon
I’m Not Even Supposed To Be Here Today
Tricks and Treats
Carter Ritter
Manipulation to the most extreme. That is how I would describe a cult. Whether it is leaving everything behind for a better life or maybe just mass extinction NO MATTER WHAT it's lies. In my artwork I'm trying to illustrate the lies, manipulation, and mistrust built into cults through found imagery and abstraction.
Chris Kessler
Bourbon is an integral part of identity for Kentucky and its inhabitants. Recently the culture hasy through investment by international liquor brands to expand marketability. People are encouraged - even expected - to consume Bourbon now more than ever. Small, secluded areas of Kentucky are becoming spirit boomtowns which bring in tourism, further encouraging development and expansion of facilities that can meet the demand - Distilleries, hotels, restaurants, etc. Bourbon’s identity is changing. The image shown is sourced from a bartender-focused tour of the Maker’s Mark facility in Loretto, KY. The program - Camp Runamok - pools bartenders from across the country for a week-long education of spirits. The camp is also an effort by liquor brands to incentivize these bartenders to push their products. Campers are encouraged to “drink the Kool-aid” and enter a culture of consumerism which alters both Kentucky and its people for the sake of endless expansion.