Time spent contemplating an artwork and the challenge of interpretation make room for ambiguity and lingering questions. Artists in this section use a variety of strategies to frame historical moments, from recycling visual tropes to creating alternative narratives. They encourage us to consider new perspectives on the past and offer opportunities to better understand a complex and uncertain world. How have artists used the past as source material for understanding the present? What role does imagination play in that process?
These highlights were part of WHO SAYS, WHO SHOWS, WHAT COUNTS: Thinking about History with The Block’s Collection, a 2021 exhibition that explored how art, artists, and museums engage with narratives of the past. To learn more about other artworks and key themes in the exhibition, check out Place and Memory, Institutions Critiqued, and Critical Portraits.
