Manifest Destiny—the
commonly held 19th-century belief that Americans had a religious obligation to
expand their whereabouts by conquering and settling the Western United
States—continues to be an extenuating factor in many negative aspects of our
modern-day history. The landscape around us is still being conquered and
destroyed; the goal of many religions continues to revolve around the
advancement of their beliefs; and resources are persistently accumulated
through war, all of which have grave consequences. The destructive concept of
“progress” is still held in the highest regard.
In her third solo
exhibition at
Klowden Mann, Los Angeles-based artist
continues her investigation into these notions, bringing them
into a contemporary context in a new show titled “
Sweet
Broken Now.” As part of a research
process, Farr dedicated herself to combing through 80 years of Manifest
Destiny, with the works themselves taking on the form of heavily textured
paintings that consist of treated and collaged source material. This sort of
critique of American history calls to mind the political/historical works of
and
.
To acquire her source
material, Farr sifts through thrift stores to seek out coffee table books from
the 1970s and ’80s, which she subsequently destroys by ripping apart, painting
on, affixing to canvas, and applying more paint. To Farr, the obliteration of
the books mirrors the scorched earth left by Westward Expansion. The resulting
18” x 24” panels are meant to update the narrative of Manifest Destiny, placing
the actions of the settlers into modernity, though an abstracted one. This
abstraction makes the paintings resistant to literal time-stamping, permitting
Farr to present the process of destruction and construction as an evergreen
historical narrative.