MUSÉE 29 – EVOLUTION

Evolution explores the concepts of progress, transformation, growth, and advancement in an age when images are taking a dramatic shift in the role they play in our lives.

Exhibition Review: Fantasy America at the Andy Warhol Museum

Exhibition Review: Fantasy America at the Andy Warhol Museum

Nona Faustine, In Praise of Famous Men No More, 2019, Courtesy of the artist and Two Palms, © Nona Faustine

Nona Faustine, In Praise of Famous Men No More, 2019, Courtesy of the artist and Two Palms, © Nona Faustine

“Everybody has their own America,” Andy Warhol once said. “And then they have the pieces of a fantasy America that they think is out there but they can’t see.”

America is many things. A “melting pot”, to use the elementary school definition. An amalgamation of hundreds of years of culture, history, and lived experiences. It is joyous, and a home for many — but it is also complex. Uneasy. And, as presented in the Andy Warhol Museum’s newest exhibition, Fantasy America, it is ultimately flawed.

Curated by Jose Carlos Diaz, Fantasy America reimagines Warhol’s tableaux of life in the United States, as published in 1985’s America. The book, considered one of his “most important and intriguing”, presents idealism and celebrity in equal measure, a heavily filtered portrait of America in the decade of excess. Guiding readers through his cross-country travels over a decade, the book continues to receive high praise, despite having been out of print for decades. 

Pacifico Silano, Sure of You, 2019, Courtesy of the artist, Photo credit: Julie K. Herman

Pacifico Silano, Sure of You, 2019, Courtesy of the artist, Photo credit: Julie K. Herman

But where Warhol’s works often function as a love letter to his country, Fantasy America does quite the opposite. With certainty thrown out the window and historic movements swaying the tide of the nation day after day, the five artists involved in the exhibition aim to complicate our view of American life — blurring lines between mediums, perspectives, and what makes America what it is. 

Nona Faustine and Pacifico Silano work in photography, in an effort to highlight the experience of marginalized communities and what loss means to them. Their work is transformative, reimagining the America of the past to reflect those who live in it today. Idyllic portraits are replaced with Silano’s explorations of sexuality, what it means to be queer in an America where, still, the mere mention of the subject can bring disastrous repercussions. Queer bodies are never shown as a whole, but gathered from collage, divided into the pieces society is so apt to pick apart — reflecting the loss the community feels, living only as reflected pieces, used as diversity tokens. 

Naama Tsabar, Stranger  (video still), 2017, Single channel video, 11:34 min looped, Courtesy of the artist

Naama Tsabar, Stranger (video still), 2017, Single channel video, 11:34 min looped, Courtesy of the artist

Faustine, in turn, chooses not to split African-American existence into pieces, but to confront entire sections of history, hidden by seemingly innocent civic markers. Statues are drawn through with intentional overexposure, and a heavy reminder of police violence and the death of George Floyd permeates her work. 

“This exhibition really explores the America that these individual artists crafted, based off their fantasy Americas, and reflects on the reality of America,” Diaz said in a statement. “The works have timely essence to them because a lot of people who will see the work can really relate.”

The pieces in Fantasy America reflect the turbulence of modern times, the bumps that keep us fastened into our seats with our tray tables upright and locked. Each artist proves that art is inseparable from politics, the politics that make the five contributors who they are. 

Chole Wise, Tormentedly Untainted, 2019, Courtesy of the artist  © Chole Wise / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Chole Wise, Tormentedly Untainted, 2019, Courtesy of the artist  © Chole Wise / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

In his time, Warhol was revolutionary — exposing the world to personalities and practices that nearly shook the tin foil off his Factory walls. He brought art to the forefront, questioning what did and didn’t count, and introducing the world to faces that would become pop culture icons in the years to come. Despite his premature death in 1987, his legacy permeates and continues to grow — but life has changed, and so has art. Our fantasies of America have changed, and the Warhol Museum seeks to prove that. 


Fantasy America is on display at the Andy Warhol Museum through August 30th. 




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