‘There must be two Americas,’ wrote Mark Twain in 1901. ‘[O]ne that sets the captive free, and one that takes a once-captive’s new freedom away from him, and picks a quarrel with him with nothing to found it on; then kills him to get his land.’ The quote is from Twain’s essay, ‘To the Person Sitting in Darkness’, in which the writer condemns Western imperialism in southeast Asia. The artist Stephanie Syjuco borrowed Twain’s title for her 2019 work: a flag for the then-US territory of the Philippines as described by Twain, resembling the American design but with ‘white stripes painted black and the stars replaced by the skull and cross-bones’. –
Artists in a Post-George Floyd, Mid-Pandemic World
Two new exhibitions at Mass MoCA created over the past year offer insights into our new normal.
“Close to You,” an exhibition at Mass MoCA, gathers works that address the need to remake connections. Maren Hassinger’s “Love” includes pink bags filled with love notes expressions of care when touch has been impossible.Credit.Will McLaughlin
By Aruna D’Souza
May 13, 2021Updated 11:21 a.m. ET
Two shows that recently opened at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art are keyed to our new normal: One came into being during the most restrictive moments of the pandemic; the other, though long planned, shifted its focus as these past, momentous months unfolded. Conceptually, both address the questions personal and political that are on many minds at the moment.
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