Dismantled or Not, Confederate Monuments Still Have Power. This New Landmark Exhibition Grapples With It.
Cat Dawson | Cultured | 23rd October 2025
Public statues that celebrate Confederacy leaders and white supremacist values have recently been removed in some US cities. A selection has gone on display in Los Angeles. Once placed at eye level in an art space, their “malignancy dissolves” and their scale “feels goofy and graceless”. The curator admits “it’s a very strange show … [decontextualising] takes away some of that power to harm”. Another writer calls it “thrilling … Nothing like it has ever been done before.”