Weems confronts identity, family, and the myth of home in this iconic series of photographs.
Identity
Kaphar takes a violent history and renders it visible in this modified portrait of Andrew Jackson.
The Trail of Tears and The Cost ...
Chilkat weaving has been practiced by Tlingit for hundreds of years; here modernity and tradition weave together.
Clarissa Rizal, Resilience Robe
Using the language of advertising, Jaar conveys a political message about who “Americans” really are.
Alfredo Jaar, A Logo for America
Wiley wryly places himself alongside the great master painters of history with his reimagined Napoleon.
Kehinde Wiley, Napoleon Leading the Army over ...
Tuffery’s iconic “tinned bull” addresses contemporary concerns about ecological health and food sovereignty
Michel Tuffery, Pisupo Lua Afe (Corned Beef ...
Sherman creates a series of film stills starring herself—but there is no film.
Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #21
Basquiat appropriated wildly—and creatively—from Old Masters, Picasso, anatomical textbooks, and even jazz.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Horn Players
Sherman uses textiles, prosthetics, and her own body to transform into a murderous biblical heroine.
Cindy Sherman, Untitled #228
Kngwarreye’s rise to prominence as an internationally recognized artist doesn’t fit the typical mold.
Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Earth’s Creation
The artist transforms metal from alcohol bottles into textiles that represent libations for ancestors.
El Anatsui, Untitled
Although Salcedo’s exhibit at Tate Modern ended in 2008, the scar remains—a reminder that the past can’t be erased.
Doris Salcedo, Shibboleth
Mutu uses collage as a medium for exploring being African and female.
Wangechi Mutu, Preying Mantra
Textile or sculpture? El Anatsui purposely disregards the limiting categories imposed by Western art history.
El Anatsui, Old Man’s Cloth
This British-born Nigerian artist brings a Rococo painting into three dimensions, changing some critical details.
Yinka Shonibare, The Swing (After Fragonard)
Why did the mayor of New York City threaten to close the museum exhibiting Ofili’s painting of the Virgin Mary?
Chris Ofili, The Holy Virgin Mary
Neshat’s series examines the complexities of women’s identities in the Middle East’s changing cultural landscape.
Shirin Neshat, Rebellious Silence, Women of Allah ...
Smith imbues a normally-violent story with tenderness in the embrace between a woman and a wolf.
Kiki Smith, Lying with the Wolf
Osorio’s art explores the experience of being Latin American in New York City.
Pepón Osorio, En la barberia no se ...
Gonzalez-Torres evokes absent bodies in his works, which bring gay identity and the AIDS crisis into public view.
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