Adrian Piper's 'Race Traitor' Retrospective at PAC Milan

The PAC (Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea) in Milan is hosting 'Race Traitor', a major retrospective of Adrian Piper, curated by Diego Sileo. The exhibition spans sixty years of Piper's career, from early works on the body and minimalism to later social critique. It includes collages of Black men kneeling under police pressure, reminiscent of the George Floyd protests, alongside works addressing racism, misogyny, and institutional injustice. Piper, born in New York in 1948 and now based in Berlin, was the first African American woman to teach philosophy at Georgetown University. The show features iconic pieces like 'Close to Home' (late 1980s), which interrogates power dynamics between Black and white viewers, and 'My Calling (Card)' series. Piper's Mythic Being alter ego, a camp and queer persona with mustache, afro wig, and sunglasses, appears in Village Voice ads and performances. The exhibition also highlights Piper's 2012 declaration that she 'retired from being black' and her relocation to Berlin in 2005, which she described as 'saving her life'. The show includes audio installations, video performances, and the ongoing 'Everything' series. Piper, who won the Golden Lion at the 2015 Venice Biennale, continues to inspire generations of artists and thinkers.