“Vested: Interest Due,” a solo presentation by Professor Andrew Ellis Johnson, offers an allegorical and partial accounting of the acquisition and inheritance, plunder and punishment that characterizes American history. Sculptures and large works on paper present depictions both earnest and ironic, exposing our nation’s flawed foundation and its enduring legacy. They fill a visual ledger of an inequitable economy, leaving a balance that may never be reconciled. Vested: Interest Due is an assessment. Calculated reform would leave us short. A reckoning is due.
The exhibition is on view at Hobart and William Smith Colleges’ Davis Gallery at Houghton House, March 11 through April 15.