PSJM's 'Democracia Americana' at Casa de América Marks US Independence Bicentennial

To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States' independence, the artist collective PSJM presents 'Democracia Americana' at Casa de América in Madrid. The exhibition comprises two projects: 'American Colors' (2009-2010) and 'American Democracy' (2022), both exemplifying the collective's 'social geometry' method, which generates minimalist compositions from statistical data and electoral results. 'American Colors' uses the five colors conventionally assigned to races, with their proportions determined by census data on population, prison population, and poverty rates by ethnicity in the USA. The works, executed in Formica on wood, challenge formalist abstraction by letting statistics dictate the color ratios, infusing the pieces with socio-political meaning. 'American Democracy' is a large installation of 59 historical paintings that trace the political history of the United States through geometric abstraction, based on rigorous research into every presidential election in the nation's history. The installation visualizes the fluctuations of the democratic system over time. The exhibition runs until September 30, 2026, at the Galería Casa de América-ABANCA, in the Guayasamín and Torres García rooms, Madrid.