Label
2024, “In This Place: American Dreams”
Hughie Lee-Smith’s works are often mysterious, surreal, and populated with figures who seem psychologically isolated. He noted, “In my case, aloneness, I think, has stemmed from the fact that I’m black. Unconsciously it has a lot to do with a sense of alienation.” In this work, he imagines two figures, together but separate, resting on mounds of earth as they fly kites. The scene of contented leisure suggests the dream of having time free from drudgery, a liberty enshrined in the Declaration of Independence as the “pursuit of happiness.”