Unofficial Iraqi Pavilion Pops Up in Venice, but Not That One

Feature Ali Eyal and David Horvitz satirize America’s oil war in an installation at a Chevron gas station on Venice...

Unofficial Iraqi Pavilion Pops Up in Venice, but Not That One. Feature Ali Eyal and David Horvitz satirize America’s oil war in an installation at a Chevron gas station on Venice Boulevard. Artist Ali Eyal with his unsanctioned Iraqi "pavilion," titled "Welcome to Iraq." (all photos Matt Stromberg/ Hyperallergic ) VENICE, CALIFORNIA — On a bustling corner along Venice Boulevard about a mile and a half from the beach, artist Ali Eyal stood outside a Chevron gas station last Friday, May 29, posing as a black-market petrol salesman. On the screen of an old-fashioned television set, he had painted the words “We have oil here” in ornate Arabic calligraphy. Atop the set sat four jugs resembling those filled by roadside gas vendors, their exteriors painted a noxious shade of ochre. The level of “gas” is consecutively diminished in each one, unti...