"Battle Emblems"

POLITICAL DESIGN

"Battle Emblems" traces the history of 12 iconic symbols that have been instrumental in radical political movements from the '60s onward. Consisting primarily of posters from the extensive collection at the AOUON (All Of Us Or None) political poster archives in Berkeley, the exhibition provides historical contextualization for the genesis and dissemination of symbols whose ideological underpinnings helped shape our contemporary civil society: the clenched fist, the peace sign, the union handshake, the draft-resistance Omega, the Theta used in the ecological movement, the Aphrodite symbol (combined with a fist) used in the feminist movement, the United Farm Workers' thunderbird, the Black Panther Party's black panther, the Industrial Workers of the World's globe, the pink triangle of the gay and lesbian movement, and the anarchy A. The exhibition also presents a new generation of artists and designers creating new symbols and suggesting new mediums for their placement — Choppy Oshiro, Mark Pearsall, Favianna Rodriguez, Jessica Tully, Yaeger Moravia Rosenberg, and Marcelo Viana. Tully's video Our Allies Are Everywhere encapsulates what the exhibition strives for: resistance enacted on multiple levels. Tully initially wanted to work with an San Francisco–based marching band but learned they are affiliated with the ROTC, which would have defeated the radical nature of her project. So she headed south and enlisted the Santa Cruz High Cardinal Regiment — a Scottish marching and drill band whose uniforms bear the mark of rebellion (the Royal Stuart Tartan Plaid was once outlawed, and the kilts signify the Jacobite Rebellion of the mid-18th century) — to perform choreographed formations of iconic symbols from the '60s. In the video, the drill team forms a peace sign to a marching band send-up of Cameo's "Word Up." The cross-cultural symbolism merges and reminds us that radical change is not only the stuff of history, but also still possible. "Either move or be moved," poet Ezra Pound wrote. This exhibition chooses to do both. (Katie Kurtz)

BATTLE EMBLEMS

Intersection for the Arts. Through March 25. Wed.–Sat., noon–5 p.m.; Tues, by appt.

446 Valencia, SF. (415) 626-2787, www.theintersection.org