Everything was for Sale

Acrylic on Cardboard

41” x 27”

Rachel Elizabeth Nelson “Middle Class Morality”

Secret Project Robot is pleased to present “Middle Class Morality, ” paintings by Rachel Elizabeth Nelson. In these works painted on found cardboard Rachel underscores the aspirational sensibility of America’s striving class system... Obsessed with status, struggling to stay above the working class, Rachel sees the development of a sense of moral superiority canonized by consumption, mainly in the name brands that the 1% have long abandoned... Showing off, in conspicuous fashion what one has obtained, weather through clothes, objects or even cleaning supplies, the class struggle of America has unfolded in a hushed fashion that screams for attention. Rather than criticizing the urge to be known as a “survivor” of American capitalism, Rachel sees the battle as a silent symptom of today’s political dysfunction... The myth of the boot straps lives on, forcing all who are not quite rich enough to “feel” unworthy, not good enough, even morally inferior, and so a pecking order ensues in a vicious cycle of planned obsolescence.