Cady Noland's America

Cady Noland’s art, appropriated images silk-screened onto sculptural objects and installations of assorted found objects, celebrates the idea of America—its dream and promise—and indicts the way this ideal has been perverted in pursuit of the almighty dollar. So when I learned that Gagosian’s Upper East Side gallery would host Noland’s first exhibition of new work since she “retired” from the art world in 1999, I was excited. But I also worried about Noland’s ability to hold true to her thematic content in an art world that now dismisses America as white supremacist and illegitimate.