"The quotation appears alongside Ruckstuhl's 1903 work, "Confederate Soldiers and Sailors," in the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) and arts nonprofit The Brick's long-awaited exhibition, . The two-part show displays decommissioned public Confederate statues - Ruckstuhl's, now splattered in red paint by protesters, was toppled in 2017 following Charlottesville's violent Unite the Right rally - alongside (or within) commissions by contemporary artists and other selected artworks."
"Ruckstuhl's phrase reflects the problematic double bind of early 20th-century Lost Cause mythology, a belief system that downplayed slavery's importance in the Civil War, both anticipating and deferring the Confederacy's vindication. It also provides an oddly apt framing for the exhibition itself, which expertly captures America's shifting political terrain and the role of art within it. Originally planned for the end of Biden's first (and, likely, only) term, the exhibition once seemed poised to mark a national reckoning with slavery's legacy."
"Instead, due to institutional logistics and security concerns, it arrives during Trump's second, when several Confederate monuments have already been reinstated. Fittingly, MONUMENTS evokes a world where historical verdicts, especially noble ones, remain out of reach - but, through poetic, thoughtful installation, chief curators Bennett Simpson, Hamza Walker, and Kara Walker manage to find life in limbo. Artful pairings negotiate the exhibition's difficult premise with ease, neither inadvertently valorizing Confederate history nor tritely dismissing slavery's ongoing legacy."
MOCA and arts nonprofit The Brick present a two-part show pairing decommissioned public Confederate statues with commissions by contemporary artists. Ruckstuhl's 1903 "Confederate Soldiers and Sailors," splattered with red paint and toppled in 2017 after Charlottesville, appears alongside new works. The show interrogates Lost Cause mythology and the contested idea of historical vindication while reflecting shifting American political terrain, arriving during Trump's second term when some Confederate monuments have been reinstated. Curators Bennett Simpson, Hamza Walker, and Kara Walker use poetic, thoughtful installation and artful pairings to avoid valorizing Confederate history or trivially dismissing slavery's ongoing legacy. Abigail DeVille's "Deo Vindice (Death's Cabinet)" (2025) dominates a second-floor gallery.
Read at Hyperallergic
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