American Dreamers. Reality and Imagination in Contemporary American art

Opening: 8 March 2012, 19.00

When

9 March–15 July 2012

Opening hours:
9 March–15 July 2012
Tuesday–Sunday 10.00–20.00
free Thursdays 18.00–23.00

What

The “American dream” doesn’t exist anymore, since September 11, 2001 the United States of America lost their sense of invulnerability and security, but the ability to dream and the will to believe in the future have maintained a central place in the idea of “being American”.

The new exhibition at the Strozzina is a reflection of this exact issue: the loss of society’s sense of invincibility and economic and social security after 9/11 that brought the actual financial crisis in the US and in the world.

Even since the 1950s many American artists have analysed or criticized the idea of the American Dream: the promise of success and happiness, as the basis of the American way of life, which has been continually fed by the image of Hollywood and the images promoted by the advertising campaigns of multinational corporations, from Coca Cola to Disney.

Today, although the American Dream seems to be in crisis, the optimistic spirit, a capacity for imagination and the wish to continue to believe in a future with a happy ending are still integral parts of the very idea of America.

American artists over several generations have reflected these tensions and feelings in their work, implementing a kind of escape from reality and a refuge into an alternative world that is safe and, above all, controllable. They have created worlds which are based on an aesthetic that is fed by fantastic images and by dreams, mythical creatures or images from the media, but which are also real parallel worlds in miniature that explicitly eschew the ‘true’ reality for a reality that is successful and radiant, even if only imagined.

Check out also American Dreamers: Reality and Imagination in Contemporary American Art!

Artists:

Laura Ball, Adrien Broom, Nick Cave, Will Cotton, Adam Cvijanovic, Richard Deon, Thomas Doyle, Mandy Greer, Kirsten Hassenfeld, Patrick Jacobs, Christy Rupp

The exhibition is organised by the CCC Strozzina in conjunction with the Hudson River Museum (Yonkers, New York, USA) and curated by Bartholomew F. Bland.

Info:

tel. +39 055 2645155
news@strozzina.org

For more info check out the Strozzina’s official web site!