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Rockwell Kent
Workers of the World Unite!, 1937
wood engraving on paper
Artists have long explored representations of citizens and citizenship since the time of the ancient Greeks. A new exhibition drawn from the Weisman's permanent collection explores these themes in works from the early twentieth century through the present. Who is a Citizen? What is Citizenship? features thirty paintings, photographs, and prints, ranging from Lewis Hine's photographic portraits of immigrants at Ellis Island taken in 1905 to Twin Cities photographer Joseph Allen's contemporary portraits of American Indians. Other artists included in the exhibition are Jacob Lawrence, Robert Gwathmey, Isabel Bishop, Rockwell Kent, Walker Evans, Joseph Beuys, Jerome Liebling, Thomas Arndt, and Sue Coe.
The exhibition features three thematic sections. The first, "Who is a Citizen?," examines the artistic concern with status and representation; for example, Walker Evans's 1936 photograph of Allie Mae Burroughs in Hale County, Alabama, which helped to bring visibility and aid to the plight of poor sharecroppers during the Great Depression. "Civic Life in the City" explores how shared public space defines community, regardless of the legal status of individuals' citizenship. "The Artist as Citizen" demonstrates how artists have performed as advocates and activists in response to social and political issues.
Who is a Citizen? What is Citizenship? is the first in a year-long series of WAM exhibitions and programs examining the role of art and artists in a democracy.
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