As the U.S. prepares to mark its 250th birthday this summer, ARTnews has decided to celebrate the occasion by compiling a list of “The 100 Best Artworks About America” (and not the best artworks by Americans).
“What, exactly, defines America? It’s a question that’s been asked for more than two centuries, and it’s one not likely to be conclusively answered anytime soon. But, with the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding fast approaching, we took the occasion to hash out a response to that query, using art as a guide,” the ARTnews staff explains.
Spanning a variety of mediums from 1776 to the present, the works chosen by the editors of ARTnews and Art in America “bear witness to centuries of American history and change, and they point the way forward for artists in the years to come.”
Among the artworks selected are a number of CalArtians, including:
- Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, musician, and MacArthur genius Raven Chacon’s (Music MFA 04) 2001/15 composition, Report.
- Longtime CalArts faculty member Harry Gamboa Jr.’s 1974 public performance art piece, Decoy Gang War Victim, created with legendary East L.A. art collective Asco.
- Former CalArts instructor Félix González-Torres’ 1994 installation work, “Untitled” (America), exhibited posthumously at the 2007 edition of the Venice Biennale, where the artist represented the U.S.
- America the Beautiful, a 1968 lithograph from artist and alumnus David Hammons (Chouinard 68), which features a body print of the artist himself.
- Artist and educator Daniel Joseph Martinez’s (Art BFA 79) 1993 piece, Museum Tags: Second Movement (Overture); or, Overture con Claque (Overture with Hired Audience Members), which was exhibited at the notorious 1993 Whitney Biennial.
- Internationally recognized “father of video art” and former CalArts faculty member Nam June Paik’s 1995 51–channel video installation, Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii.
- Watts Uprising Remains, 1965-66, from artist, sculptor, and Watts Towers Art Center co-founder Noah Purifoy (Chouinard 56), the first African American to enroll in Chouinard Art Institute as a full-time student.
