The "American Berserk" exhibition by artist Valerie Hegarty is coming to University of Michigan's Humanities Gallery on Thursday, Nov. 2 and explores an alternate version of American history.
The exhibition runs through Dec. 21 and on Nov. 2, there will be an opening reception and a meet and greet with the artist at 6 p.m.
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Brooklyn-based artist Valerie Hegarty has explored fundamental themes of American history throughout her career -- particularly the legacy of 19th-century American art, addressing topics such as slavery, nationalism, colonization and environmental degradation.
(Photo: Valerie Hegarty)
She borrows her show's title, "American Berserk", from Philip Roth's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel American Pastoral, in which he coins the opposite of the American pastoral model "indigenous American Berserk."
Show-goers will see a site-specific mixed-media sculpture jutting from the wall and a collection of ceramic sculptures.
According to the U-M press release:
"The sculptures, which seem imported from a parallel universe, include watermelons that become animated, explode and then decay; sly depictions of George Washington as a series of topiaries; spectral clipper ships sinking and calcifying into shells; a branch breaking through the wall and piercing a painting of George Washington, making his nose appear to grow; and a duo of "fruit face" personae that survey the surreal proceedings."
The show with this grouping of works originally debuted at New York's Burning in Water gallery last year.
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