Three AICA-USA members on recent American Art

Curran Hatleburg, Untitled (Girl with Snake), 2016. Pigment Print. 25 3/8 x 31 1/4 in.

July 04, 2019

In the spirit of Independence Day three AICA-USA members reflect on the specifically American character of some art and visual culture today in a recent special issue on America published by In Other Words.

Christian Viveros-Fauné lauds Curran Hatleberg's contribution to the American tradition of road photography in the 2019 Whitney biennial.

William J. Simmons examines a resurgence of melodrama and film noir tropes in American popular culture, driven by a nostalgia for "a distant or unattainable American identity whose quaintness seems ironic and earnest in equal measure."

Aruna D'Souza discusses the multifaceted problem of art as protest within the context of cultural institutions, specifically through Nicole Eisenman's Whitney biennial contribution, Procession (2019).

The American issue, published annually, focuses on "the question of who has a voice in US culture" and "the search for what America really is, or for who Americans actually are." This according to executive editor Charlotte Burns.