Professor’s new exhibition explores homelessness, inequality in America
Department of Art Associate Professor Rodney McMillian's artistic practice embodies a wide range of media and techniques. An overarching concern in his work is the relationship between language, aesthetics and content. His exhibition, In This Land is on view at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art through June 9, 2019.
"Home is a central concept of the American Dream, but Rodney McMillian said it continues to be inaccessible to many.
Professor Rodney McMillian’s abstract art exhibit, "In This Land,” will be on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art until June 9. McMillian said the piece is meant to engage with the political and social ideologies that constitute American culture and the concept of home. (Courtesy of Lilly Casillas) The widespread homelessness in America, can be caused by racial and financial disparity, and is expressed in McMillian’s abstract art exhibit, “In This Land.” Featured at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art until June 9, the exhibit consists of an 88-by-14-foot panoramic painting spanning three walls, accompanied by speakers projecting politically charged sounds. McMillian, a professor in UCLA’s Department of Art, said the American Dream is often considered in broad terms and lacks a clear definition. In the exhibit, he aims to engage with the political and social ideologies that constitute American culture and perpetuate socioeconomic disparity.
“It’s not a painting to look like a specific location in the U.S., so there’s abstraction employed,” McMillian said. “The idea of the American Dream is fairly abstract.”
According to an essay by Jenny Gheith, assistant curator of Painting and Sculpture at SFMOMA, McMillian’s work utilizes vivid colors to represent features of a general landscape that are meant to engulf the viewer. The bright colors are painted atop a black background, which is supposed to represent blackness as an identity. The many American histories are encoded in how the dark background is layered behind the vibrant colors of the painting, Gheith said in her essay. The exhibit considers how America maintains racial and class inequality, she said."— Drake Gardner, Apr. 28, 2019
This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the Daily Bruin website.
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