How Do You Spell America #6
Artist:
Willie Cole
(American, born 1955)
Place made:United States
Date: 1993
Dimensions:
49 x 96 in. (124.5 x 243.8 cm)
Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by the Brown Foundation Contemporary Art Acquisition Fund, Janet L. Brown, the Guillermo C. Nicolas & James C. Foster Art Fund, Christopher C. Hill, Dr. Harmon and Harriet Kelley, Zoe A. Diaz, Stacey Hill and Erick Schlather, and an Anonymous Donor
Object number: 2012.17
Copyright: © Willie Cole
Label Text
Mining a television newscast and The New York Times, Willie Cole jotted down words beginning with the letters A, M, E, R, I, C, and A. Written on a blackboard in chalk, the words appear random when read vertically but form sentences when read left to right. Phrases such as “American Malaise Eases Right Into Chronic Apathy” comment on American society and values. Cole’s use of the instructive blackboard and its inherent black-and-white color scheme further calls attention to the country’s educational system and racial inequities.
LSM, 2024
LSM, 2024
Not on view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
