Kienholz: Un/American Violence

Taking Edward Kienholz and Nancy Reddin Kienholz’s work and its reception as a point of departure, the aim of this symposium is to examine the ethics and politics of violence alongside shifting definitions of (un- and anti-) Americanness in art since the 1950s. Whereas the Kienholzes’ work is best known for its shocking representations of violence, sex, and political hypocrisy, its reliance on spectacle tends to inhibit deeper investigations into the role of history, geography, and identity in their work.

Rather than maintaining a strict focus on the Kienholzes, then, these papers will expand to consider artists in their social, geographic, and political orbit, including close associates like Ed Bereal and Niki de Saint Phalle, contemporary Indigenous artists of the Pacific Northwest, as well as key exhibitions and curators who played a role in disseminating the Kienholzes’ work in Europe.

The conversation will be informed by the current political situation in the United States and the resurgence of fascist politics around the world.

This symposium stems from a long-running research project that culminated in an exhibition in 2024, Beyond Hope: Kienholz and the Inland Northwest.

Organised by Dr Johanna Gosse, Lecturer in Lens and Time-Based Art Histories, in collaboration with The Courtauld Centre for the Art of the Americas, directed by Professor Jo Applin.