This Terra Collection Initiative examined the interrelated developments of the modern American city and the growth of an increasingly diverse population as represented in the visual arts between 1893 and 1976. With the built environment serving as a space of experimentation, artists developed a multiplicity of visual languages to both engage with and observe the special rituals, everyday rhythms, and varied needs of diverse populations in urban environments.
From these narratives and images, artists highlight cities as laboratories for the evolution of so-called American culture, allowing visitors to reflect upon their own experiences of living in urban landscapes, being part of a collective body, and the relationships they develop with cities and with each other that inform the future of urban environments.
The exhibition was co-organized by the Pinacoteca de São Paulo and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
