Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture
November 8, 2024 – September 14, 2025
The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture examines the role of sculpture in understanding and constructing the concept of race in the United States. The exhibition brings together 82 sculptures created between 1792 and 2023 and ranging in size from palm-sized coins to monumental statues created from diverse media such as bronze, marble, shoes, paper, and hair. Made by 70 different artists, these sculptures are displayed to allow for juxtapositions of historical and contemporary works that invite dialogue and reflection on notions of power and identity. American sculpture in its many forms also has served as an expression of resistance, liberation, and a vital means for reclaiming identity.
The exhibition draws extensively on works from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection, which is the largest collection of American sculpture in the world.
Roberto Lugo, DNA Study Revisited, 2022, urethane resin life cast, foam, wire, and acrylic paint, 66 × 27 × 17 in. (167.6 × 68.6 × 43.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund, 2024.19
