Another Country
Christiane Baumgartner German
Not on view
Through a scrim of parallel horizontal lines, Another Country shows New York Harbor as viewed from the Hudson River. The light-dappled water, the high horizon, the seemingly endless vista, and the faint glimmer of the Statue of Liberty, a celebrated beacon of hope and welcome, provide an idealized version of the nation. However, the title, which references James Baldwin’s 1962 novel, Another Country, complicates such a narrative through the text’s portrayals of racism and violence in America. The woodcut is based on a digital photograph that Baumgartner, who was born and raised in the former East Germany, took on her first trip to the city. Several years later, she manipulated the image using a computer and then transferred and carved the composition with a kitchen knife into a single piece of plywood.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
