Noon-4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and noon –2 p.m. Saturdays

Visual Arts Center
California State University, Fullerton
800 North State College Blvd., Fullerton, CA

A New Cosmopolitanism (Preeminence of Place in Contemporary Art)features the works of 12 contemporary artists — Michael Benedict Barnoya, Binh Danh, Alejandro Díaz, Enrique Chagoya, Wosene Worke Kosrof, Sandeep Mukherjee, Betye Saar, Steven B. Smith, Mark Swope, Fatimah Tuggar, Richard Turner and Saira Wasim — who use themes of location and memory in ways that converge to produce what might be called a new cosmopolitanism. Some of these artists were born in other countries and use their cultural heritage to challenge viewers to reconsider traditional American icons and landscapes. Others, born in the U.S., have profited from the sophistication of contemporary global art to better focus on and understand American places.

A certain optimism adheres to the notion of a new cosmopolitanism. It looks forward to, and tries to depict, a world much more free of the effects of imperialism, hegemonic domination and oppression of all sorts. By means of photography, painting, installation and new media these artists allow us to witness the reshaping of a cosmopolitan American experience. Many of their works may be considered a form of what Charles Gaines, in his catalogue essay, calls “insurgent criticism” that envisions a “democratization of place” in which we can all be citizens of the world without ceasing to love our own little corner of it.