Home-Land Exploring the American Myth

June 11–August 7, 2022
Curated by Michael Quituisaca and Alexandra Schuman

featuring essays by curators Alexandra Schuman and Michael Quituisaca. Purchase during open hours or by emailing museum@american.edu. $20 each plus taxes and shipping, if applicable.

Khánh H. Lê, United, c. 2013-14. In the background, the United airlines logo and a geometric pattern. In the foreground, a person holding a child, the back of a person in a suit, and a person holding what seems to be a blanket.

Khánh H. Lê, United, c. 2013-14. Mixed media. Courtesy of the artist.

F. Lennox Campello, Isla Balsera (Happy Bicentennial American - Wishing We Were There). A collage of American imagery in the shape of Cuba. In the background, news clippings, with words concentrated towards the north.

F. Lennox Campello, Isla Balsera (Happy Bicentennial America - Wishing We Were There), 1976. Collage, 26 x 34 in. Gift from The Andres M. Fernandez Collection, 2018.17.1.

Helen Zughaib, US Capitol Building, 1990

Helen Zughaib, US Capitol Building, 1990. Archival pigment print, 28 x 38 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Taking advantage of the museum’s proximity to the Department of Homeland Security’s Nebraska Avenue Complex, this exhibition explores the impact that American culture has on its citizens both naturalized and native. Using American iconography, consumer and visual culture, and personal experience, the featured eight Washington area artists simultaneously honor and confront the American dream. The idea of “home” is a promise in America that often goes unquestioned. However, these artists reveal that home is not a privilege for all - for some it is taken, for others it is to be fought for and defended, and, for many artists in the show, it is reforged in a new land. This exhibition highlights how these artists have found their place within multiple frameworks of identity, both ascribed and subscribed.

Artists

Sobia Ahmad, F. Lennox Campello, Elizabeth Casqueiro, Ric Garcia, Claudia "Aziza" Gibson-Hunter, Julia Kwon, Khánh H. Lê, and Helen Zughaib