The exhibition illustrates the relevance and appeal of folklore to contemporary artists, as well as the genre’s power to illuminate ingrained cultural forces and overlooked histories. Covering the period from the first Thanksgiving in 1621 to the beginning of the Space Age in 1957, the artists’ representational paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, installations, and videos reconsider important legends and figures in United States history. The Old, Weird America features eighteen artists who explore native, idiomatic, and communal subjects from America’s past: Eric Beltz, Jeremy Blake, Sam Durant, Barnaby Furnas, Deborah Grant, Matthew Day Jackson, Brad Kahlhamer, Margaret Kilgallen, David McDermott and Peter McGough, Aaron Morse, Cynthia Norton (a.k.a. Ninny), Greta Pratt, David Rathman, Dario Robleto, Allison Smith, Kara Walker, and Charlie White. Includes essays by Toby Kamps, Colleen Sheehy, and Michael Duncan; and documentation on the artists’ careers.
