The Academic Body Exhibition at American Academy in Rome Explores Classical Form and Identity

The American Academy in Rome (AAR) presents 'The Academic Body,' a group exhibition examining the evolution of the human body in American art from the Academy's founding in 1894 to the present. Curated for the institution's 125th anniversary, the show critically reflects on AAR's history—from a neoclassical stronghold where artists copied ancient sculptures like Polykleitos's Doryphoros to a liberal institution embracing diverse approaches. After WWII, the Academy shed its plaster cast collection as classicism waned; artists like Philip Guston, Stephen Greene, and Concetta Scaravaglione (the first woman to win the Rome Prize in visual arts) grappled with representing the body after the Holocaust and Hiroshima. Today, the exhibition repositions the classical body not as a canonical standard but as a site for contemporary discourse on identity, gender, sexuality, and race. Featured artists include Daniel Chester French (sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial), Wangechi Mutu (collages challenging stereotypes of Black female bodies), Patricia Cronin (whose 'Memorial to a Marriage' depicted her embracing partner Deborah Kass a decade before U.S. same-sex marriage legalization), Sanford Biggers (commemorating Black Lives Matter victims), Sissi, and Giuseppe Stampone. Works span painting, sculpture, video, photography, installation, and performance. The exhibition opens May 22 at AAR's McKim, Mead & White Building. The catalog includes contributions from Mary Beard and Deborah Willis.