August 9 - September 27, 2012
Infinite Mirror explores America’s image of itself through 62 diverse works of paintings, prints, photographs and video by 38 insightful artists. Utilizing portraiture and figurative images and largely focusing on printmaking as a medium, the exhibition tells the story of an array of triumphs, tragedies, relationships, and traditions that inform our notions of nationhood.
Artists including the late Elizabeth Catlett, Luis Jimenez, Jacob Lawrence, and Faith Ringgold reflect the complex dynamics between people and within the minds of individuals as they participate in, and contribute to, a composite, inestimable culture. This examination demonstrates how vast America truly is, measured in dimensions and demographics beyond history, population, and geography and including race, ethnicity and origin, language and class. The artwork is person, reflective, and often autobiographical. We, as Americans, need an infinite mirror to see our full reflection.
Infinite Mirror includes four main themes - Self-Selection, Pride, Assimilation, and Protest - that reflect affinities and points of departure for dialogue. Artists Richard Ray Whitmanand Edgar Heap of Birds reveal how Americans are allowed to question the ideals of U.S. politics and social culture. Their work explores the treatment, past and present, of Native Americans. Tomie Arai mixes the symbols of her Asian heritage and her American present. In Peach Boy, a young boy can participate by donning the trappings of a cowboy on the frontier, but the work hints at the tension between the actual experience of Chinese immigrants who worked for the railroad and the myth of the American West. Art works such as Delilah Montoya’s photograph of Elisabeth “Pink Panther” Mongesuggests a celebration of indomitable spirit and perseverance.
