Andrea Carlson Featured in Art in America’s Winter Issue

“The landscapes we all walk are full of irony if you look close enough,” says Andrea Carlson in “Expanding Horizons,” a feature published in the Winter Issue of Art in America. Walking through Shimmer on Horizons, her solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Carlson spoke with writer Jeremy Lybarger about her decolonized, consuming landscapes, and her artistic practice as a whole. They discuss her critiques of colonial institutions–such as the MCA Chicago itself–and how her works entangle many different cultural references to create landscapes that reverse power dynamics with the viewer. “If you actually entered these landscapes, you’d be cut into pieces,” Carlson says.

The feature delves into the significance of paper, both historically as a tool of colonization through unequal treaties and deeds, and as the fragile material upon which Carlson works. During the pandemic, this vulnerable space became a means of memorializing those close to her and who have influenced her practice. Names such as George Morrison and Jim Denomie are inscribed amongst the many different figures and horizon lines, which simultaneously overwhelm the viewer and resist any effort to possess or conquer them. Lybarger comments on Carlson’s sense of humor, as well, such as in the “queasy comedy” of her VORE series and its plays on 1970s and ‘80s exploitation films.

The Winter Issue of Art in America is available for purchase now. Chicago Works | Andrea Carlson: Shimmer on Horizons remains on view through February 2, 2025, as does Prospect.6: The Future is Present, The Harbinger Is Home.