Brad Kahlhamer: A Nation of One

Minnesota Museum of American Art (the M) is proud to present A Nation of One, a survey exhibition of work by New York-based multimedia artist Brad Kahlhamer. His large-scale paintings, drawings, and works on paper map the sprawling complexities and contradictions of American culture and identity. 

Notable influences include Abstract Expressionism, graphic styles from Gary Painter, Art Spiegelman, Henry Darger, the artist’s ongoing study of Plains Indians’ graphic arts, and the artist’s personal Native American, but “tribally ambiguous” heritage. A Nation of One charts Kahlhamer’s evolution of styles across American and Native identities, speaking to his adopted and inherited genealogy of symbols and characters, reiterating his persistent questions about hybridity, cultural appropriation, and representation.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website