Saint Hoax

Saint Hoax is a pseudonymous Syrian artist,[1] satirist and socio-political activist. They use various mediums to subversively depict political and popular figures. They're also known for taking Disney characters out of context and using them for social awareness.[2]

Career

Political satire

War Drags You Out

War Drags You Out is a series of digital illustrations depicting prominent political and religious figures as drag queens.[3] The project was shared on January 2014, and it is the first to be published under the pseudonym Saint Hoax. The artist received multiple death threats shortly after publishing the project due to his inclusion of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Osama bin Laden in the series.[4] The depiction of the late king and bin Laden offended religious extremists and made the artist a target for criticism and death threats. Some of the threats were publicly shared on Hoax's social media accounts, others were sent directly to his email address. However, the project was well received by the media and praised as a strong political commentary.[5]

Social awareness

Happy Never After

In 2014, Saint Hoax published their campaign Happy Never After. The artist used images of Disney princesses to spread awareness about domestic violence.[6] The princesses were illustrated with bruises on their faces and a slogan that read "When did he stop treating you like a princess?" accompanied the visuals. Hours after the posters were published on the artist's website, the campaign went viral.[7] Happy Never After became one of the most shared domestic violence campaign. In November 2014, it was used as the official anti-domestic violence campaign in Amsterdam.

Once Upon A War

In March 2016, Saint Hoax visited a Syrian refugee camp in Akkar, Lebanon and photographed Syrian girls dressed as Disney princesses. This was a collaborative project with Plastik Magazine, Beirut based visual magazine, and MALAAK, an Akkar-based NGO that builds schools for Syrian refugees and provides aid. The proceeds of the project went directly to MALAAK.[8]

Social Media

Saint Hoax uses social media, particularly Instagram, as their main platform. They’re mostly known for posting edited videos and images that satirize political and pop cultural figures.[9]

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions
  • 2018: "MonuMental", Plastik Gallery, Beirut
  • 2016: "Is That All There Is [10]", Guy Hepner, New York
  • 2015: "POPlitically Incorrect", The Adler Subhashok Gallery, Bangkok

Group exhibitions
  • 2015: Art Palm Beach, The Adler Subhashok Gallery, Florida
  • 2014: Singapore Art Fair, The Adler Subhashok Gallery, Singapore
  • 2014: Beirut Art Fair, Plastik Gallery, Beirut

References
  1. Editor, Sara Boboltz Entertainment; Post, The Huffington (2015-10-12). "Now You Can Buy Your Own Trump Blow-Up Doll (For A Good Cause)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-10-06.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  2. Rogers, Katie (2015-10-21). "Disney Princesses, Remade for the Instagram Age". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-10-06.
  3. Karlan, Sarah (February 24, 2014). "Artist Turns Powerful Political Figures Into Fabulous Drag Queens". Buzzfeed. Retrieved 2016-10-06.
  4. Dunning, Jennifer. "Artist turns Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama into drag queens - Your Community". CBC.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-06.
  5. Post, James Nichols The Huffington (2014-02-25). "LOOK: Artist Faces Death Threats For These Controversial Images". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-10-06.
  6. Peters, Lucia. "Saint Hoax's "Happy Never After" Series Uses Disney Princesses to Make a Powerful Statement". Bustle. Retrieved 2016-10-06.
  7. https://huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/09/disney-princess-domestic-abuse-saint-hoax_n_5567711.html
  8. "An Artist Dressed Syrian Refugees as Disney Princesses and Asked Them to Share Their Dreams". Cosmopolitan. 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2016-10-06.
  9. "Featured Artist: Saint Hoax". The Seventh Wave. Retrieved 2016-10-06.
  10. "Saint Hoax Presents 'Is That All There Is?' - Guy Hepner Gallery".
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