Exhibition by RJ LaRussa at Real Art Ways

Press release

HARTFORD, CONN. Real Art Ways presents a solo exhibition by RJ LaRussa titled Meaningful Adjacencies. This exhibition is on view through Sunday, March 24. Gallery hours are everyday from 2-9pm. Admission is free. Real Art Ways is located at 56 Arbor Street, Hartford.

Meaningful Adjacencies focuses on post 9/11 abuses perpetrated by the United States. Focusing on the CIA Rendition, Detention, and Interrogation (RDI) program as it exists within both extremes, LaRussa exclaims that, "it is simultaneously the most brutal, repressive, institutionally sanctioned program to come after 9/11, as well as the most obfuscated, laundered, and pardoned practice at the highest levels. The 'information' obtained under torture in CIA Black Sites around the world continues today to serve as justification for the United States’ wars on anything. Meaningful Adjacencies memorializes those who were detained and brutalized. In doing so, this exhibition forces us to reexamine our relationship to global violence, and narratives of US innocence that are used to gain cultural consent for the continuation of these wars. Despite being officially ended, the RDI program may still exist in one form or another."

About the Artist

RJ LaRussa is a freelance Director of Photography and Visual Artist working locally in New York City. Their work has been screened at SXSW, Chicago Critics Fest, Frightfest, L'Étrange Festival, and the Denver Film Festival among others, and has been covered by the Zeiss Lenspire blog, Aislin Magazine, and the Greater Hartford Arts Council. Their most recent short film work THE MUNDANES, by Magic Society Pictures, premiered at SXSW 2023. RJ is a graduate of the 2023 Respectability Entertainment Lab.

RJ specializes in story-focused projects across both feature and short narrative, music video, and documentary work. He strives to bring naturalism and experimental techniques together to create visuals that serve the story of each individual project.

RJ’s sensitive approach to their subjects is informed by their experiences as a neurodivergent artist. The relationship between people and the world around them is integral to their work as a storyteller. For more information, click here.