Great America

Step right up and take a look at 'Great America,' a piece that serves up American history with a side of biting irony. At first glance, you might see a festive boat ride, something you'd find at an amusement park. But look closer. This isn't a journey to a water-soaked good time; it's a reimagining of the Middle Passage as a haunted tunnel ride. The painting, a large work of acrylic and collage on canvas, depicts a small boat of Black figures sailing toward a dark, ominous tunnel. The passengers are rendered in the artist's signature dark, silhouetted style. The artist plays with the cheerful typography of theme parks, but with a grim twist. A banner screams “WOW” against a blood-red background, while the word “FUN” is so whited-out it’s barely there, as if the very concept has been bleached away. At the end of this grim voyage, white, ghost-like figures wait, adding to the foreboding atmosphere. Created in 1994, the work uses the name of a popular type of amusement park to force a confrontation with a brutal reality of the slave trade that is often glossed over. It’s a masterful and unsettling blend of the histories of painting and race, presenting a version of the American story that’s anything but an amusement park.