3 Flags for 1 Space and 6 Regions

Artist Vito Acconci (American, 1940-2017)

Date1981

Dimensions6 sheets, each: H: 24 in. (61 cm); W: 32 in. (81.3 cm).
Image: H: 72 in. (82.9 cm); W: 64 in. (62.7 cm).

MediumPhoto-etching

ClassificationPrints

Credit LineAmerican Art Fund

Object number

1982.202A-F

Not on View

Label TextIn this emotionally charged artwork, Vito Acconci depicts the overlapping flags of China, the Soviet Union, and the United States, the three “superpowers” whose ideological rivalry for world influence defined the Cold War. The American flag and the Chinese flag cover but do not hide the flag of the Soviet Union. The artist frequently used national flags in his artwork to convey his interest in the larger issues of geography, politics, and culture. While these prints are representative of Acconci’s ambiguous and ambivalent approach to political subjects, the placement of the flags would seem prescient considering the current geo-political reality. Each section of this visually beautiful and masterly printed etching is individually framed creating divisions between the six “regions” of the title.Published References

Robin White interview, "Vito Acconci," View, Oakland, 1979, pp. 2, 35-40.

"Prints and Photographs Published," The Print Collector's Newsletter, Vol. XII, no. 4, Sept. - Oct. 1981, p. 110.

Exhibition History

Toledo Museum of Art, Contempary Realistic Prints, March 17, - June 3, 1984.

Toledo Museum of Art, Contempary Prints, August 17- October 30, 1983 and January 14 - February 26, 1984.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Museum of Contemporary Art, Vito Acconci, Chicago, 1980.

cf. Scwartz, Ellen, "Vito Acconci," Artnews, vol. 80, no. 6, June 1981, pp. 93-99.

cf. Rickey, Carrie, "Vito Acconci: The Body Impolitic," Art in America, vol. 68, no. 8, Oct. 1980, pp. 118-123.

cf. Harvey, Donald E., "An Interview with Vito Acconci," Dialogue, Jan/Feb. 1982, pp. 54-57.