Rodney McMillian: History is Present Tense
”McMillian’s elegiac works remind us that America’s current situation stems directly from unresolved original sins that go back generations, even to the country’s founding.”
— Joseph R. Wolin, Glasstire
Co-published with The Contemporary Austin
Texts by Adrienne Edwards, Julia V. Hendrickson, Heather Pesanti, Bennett Simpson, Cherise Smith
Hardcover / 9.25 x 12.5 nches
280 images / 372 pages
ISBN: 9781942185390
Spanning the past two decades, the book presents an index of RODNEY MCMILLIAN’s performance-based work, as well as a fresh look at Against a Civic Death, a 2018 exhibition of McMillian’s at The Contemporary Austin.
McMillian’s art is direct and unflinching. Works like his hand-sewn vinyl work The White House Painting, 2018, challenge viewers to confront societal and individual narratives—whether those narratives are personal, political, or institutional, whether they are “true” or fly in the face of truth.
Designed and researched with the artist’s close participation, the book itself serves as both a testament to and a manifestation of McMillian’s disruptive, revealing art.