Adrian Piper: Race Traitor

The catalogue was edited for the first European retrospective in over 20 years dedicated to Adrian Piper (1948, New York), winner of the Golden Lion award as best artist at the 2015 Venice Biennale. The exhibition, hosted at PAC in Milan, traces over 60 years of career, with important international loans from the most prestigious museums, including MoMA and Guggenheim, New York; MoMA, San Francisco; MCA, Chicago; MOCA, Los Angeles; Tate Modern, London. Established as a conceptual and minimalist artist as well as a performer on the New York art scene of the late 1960s, Piper raises often uncomfortable questions about politics, racial and gender identity, and asks people to confront truths about themselves and the society in which they live. The concept of permanent struggle against racism, xenophobia, social injustice and hatred is the core of her philosophical, artistic and activist practice. As a woman artist and philosopher, Piper’s work also often questions her experiences of sexism and misogyny. In this sense, her research has inspired entire generations of contemporary artists. Text in English and Italian.