AUGUST 18TH 1-9PM with a Performance from 5:00-6:00pm and an Artist Talk at 6:00pm. Learn more about the memoir: www.cia-spy.com and art: https://www.garner.art

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT:

Working at the CIA changed artist Michael Garner forever. During his 3-year stint at the Agency, Garner experienced what appeared to be a mélange of surveillance in which the US government or another entity penetrated every aspect of his professional and private life. He watched words change on his screen in real time on his personal computer at home, and items in his apartment were altered while he was in another room. When he described what appeared to be happening to a senior CIA manager, she said it was “plausible” that the Agency was responsible.

There were hints that Garner was being subtly recruited by the CIA’s Directorate of Operations to be a case officer—in everyday language, a “spy.” Other hints suggested a malicious counterintelligence operation to pin him as a traitor. Was he going crazy? What was the truth?

This exhibition explores Garner's time at the CIA through artworks. The exhibition will also feature a selection of works that are unrelated to the CIA--some are anti-authoritarian and others are more lighthearted.