Taking Liberty: Martaza Vali on the art of Pacita Abad
Murtaza Vali, Artforum
July 2024
The statue of liberty is the apex of national mythmaking, a bloated bronze symbol standing watch over New York Harbor, where it broadcasts a promise of generosity, hospitality, and openness to immigrants in need. Emma Lazarus exemplified this ethos in her 1883 sonnet “The New Colossus,” dubbing Lady Liberty the “Mother of Exiles.” But for many—especially immigrants of color—the experience of arriving and settling in the United States falls short of these lofty ideals, and artists have used this symbol to interrogate this projection of America as a haven for the world’s less fortunate, revealing its racialized biases. […]