Rodney McMillian, Untitled (The Supreme Court Painting), 2004–06. Acrylic on canvas, 216 x 216 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles. © 2020 the artist. Photo: Gene Ogami

States of Mind: Art and American Democracy. Photo by Nash Baker.

Hank Willis Thomas, 15,093, 2018. Embroidered stars on polyester-blend flag, pole, metal eagle finial with cast-iron mount. Alex and Kelly Lakatos. © 2020 the artist. Photo: Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

Sandy Rodriguez, Mapa de Los Angeles: For Those Killed by Police in 2018, 2018. Hand-processed organic and mineral watercolor on amate paper. Courtesy the artist.

Chris Burden, L.A.P.D. Uniforms, 1993. Courtesy the Chris Burden Estate. © Chris Burden/Licensed by the Chris Burden Estate and Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Nash Baker

States of Mind: Art and American Democracy

Fall 2020 Exhibition

September 19 - December 19, 2020

Reflecting on some of the most pressing topics facing American democracy, States of Mind: Art and American Democracy is timed to coincide with the 2020 presidential election in order to encourage dialogue around current social and political issues. Many of the works on view examine the status of our country’s founding principles of freedom and equality, while others engage with questions of voting access, gun control, and immigration policies — three issues that are common throughout the United States and of particular concern to Texas. States of Mind does not attempt to cover the myriad complexities of a democratic government but rather to invite viewers to consider timely yet recurrent questions around these themes. Each artist in States of Mind offers a discrete and potent account of how political issues directly affect our daily lives. By illuminating challenging, often entrenched policies, they seek to foster discourse and propose social change.

This exhibition is organized by Ylinka Barotto, Associate Curator, Moody Center for the Arts along with Julia Fisher, Rice University Student Assistant and Julia Kidd, Rice University Student Assistant and Moody Center for the Arts Head Gallery Guide.

This exhibition is made possible by the Moody Center for the Arts Founder’s Circle with additional support from the Elizabeth Lee Moody Excellence Fund for the Arts.

Interactive: Take a 360° tour of the exhibition

Watch videos of States of Mind artists:
Sandy Rodriguez
Aram Han Sifuentes

Featured artists include: Yael Bartana, b. 1970, Kfar Yehezkel, Israel; Alexandra Bell (b. 1983, Chicago); Adriana Corral, b. 1983, El Paso; Paul Stephen Benjamin, b. 1966, Chicago; Monica Bonvicini, b. 1965, Venice; Chris Burden, b. 1946, Boston; d. 2015, Topanga, California; Margarita Cabrera, b. 1973, Monterrey, Mexico; Tony Cokes, b. 1956, Richmond; Janiva Ellis, b. 1987, Oakland; rafa esparza, b. 1981, Los Angeles; Barbara Ess, b. 1948, Brooklyn; Kevin Jerome Everson, b. 1965, Mansfield, Ohio; Camilo Godoy, b. 1989, Bogotá; Felix Gonzalez-Torres, b. 1957, Guáimaro, Cuba; d. 1996, Miami; In Plain Sight (lead by Cassils, b. Toronto, 1975; and rafa esparza. b. 1981, Los Angeles); Tomashi Jackson, b. 1980, Houston; Lynn Hershman Leeson, b. 1941, Cleveland; Nery Gabriel Lemus, b. 1977, Los Angeles; Guadalupe Maravilla, b. 1976, San Salvador; Teresa Margolles, b. 1963, Culiacán, Mexico; Rodney McMillian, b. 1969, Columbia, South Carolina; Star Montana, b. 1987, Los Angeles; Cady Noland, b. 1956, Washington, D.C.; Catherine Opie, b. 1961, Sandusky, Ohio; Trevor Paglen, b. 1974 Camp Springs, Maryland; Sandy Rodriguez, b. 1975, National City, California; Aram Han Sifuentes, b. 1986, Seoul; Xaviera Simmons, b. 1974, New York; Stephanie Syjuco, b. 1974, Manila; Hank Willis Thomas, b. 1976, Plainfield, New Jersey; Wilmer Wilson IV, b. 1989, Richmond.