It's never been harder to define "art" than it is today, but one thing is certain — artists are always having a conversation with the time they live in.
videos + essays
Over the next two years, Seeing America will grow to include 100 videos, 18 essays, quizzes, discussion questions and lesson plans.
Mark Bradford, Thelxiepeia
Bradford's painting draws from ancient Greek myth to celebrate a space beloved to him: his mother's beauty parlor.
Richard Serra, Artaud
Serra builds a textured surface with layers of oil stick, blurring the distinction between drawing and sculpture.
Alfred Conteh, Our Greatest Inheritance
Through portraiture, Conteh expresses the love and care between a father and his children.
Pablita Velarde (Tse Tsan), Awataba Kiva Mural
Connecting past to present, Velarde recreates an ancient Hopi mural in this modern painting.
Kay WalkingStick, Havasu Revisited
WalkingStick tells a story of Indigenous sacredness in her diptych of the rocky landscape of Havasu.
Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Mirrored Room—My Heart is Dancing into the Universe
Kusama's installation of mirrors, orbs, and colorful lights simulates the feeling of ineffable vastness and infinity.
Robert Colescott, Miss Liberty
Standing in front of a map of the United States, Colescott's Miss Liberty inspires the question: who is afforded freedom?
Richard Prince, Nurse Elsa
Prince's bubblegum pink painting is an incredible testament to media culture.
Toshiko Takaezu, Crater Moon
Takaezu's ceramics reflect her belief that art should have "mystery, an unsaid quality; it contains a spirit and is alive."
Arpilleras
Through the creation of arpilleras, women spoke out against the violence of the Pinochet dictatorship.
Felix Gonzalez-Torres, “Untitled” (L.A.)
For Gonzalez-Torres, the pile of candy that makes up "Untitled" (L.A.) is embedded with deeply personal and political meanings.
Jenny Holzer, Inflammatory Essays and All Fall
Holzer's text-based art encourages viewers to reflect on how we make meaning in the world today.
