New Paintings for the United States Capitol Rotunda

2022 Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco: Sept. 17th to Oct. 22nd

After watching the events of January 6th unfold as rioters took over the United States Capitol building, Birk began thinking about the artworks that adorn the Capitol Rotunda: 8 works by various artists which depict decisive moments in United States history. Four of those paintings depict moments that occurred before the nation was founded, and four depict moments from the War for Independence.

These theatrically staged “History” paintings tell a tale of White men overcoming obstacles, dominating the land, and conquering foes with a sense of near religious destiny - all culminating with the signing of the Declaration of Independence to create a new nation.

But what if these eight paintings depicted other moments of our history? What if those depictions were more self-critical, or depicted the roles of people besides White men in our shared understanding of ourselves?

In Birk’s reimagining, the depiction of Colombus’ landing now includes the African captain of the Santa Maria, while the fleet’s crew immediately begin defiling the New World before wary Taíno natives, who will shortly be decimated by smallpox.

Rather than depicting the Pilgrims as saintly victims, Birk depicts the landing of the first slave trading ship “The White Lion” as a more important moment in the formation of our nation, a landing which began 400 years of legal slavery and whose ramifications last to this day.

The third painting depicts Thomas Jefferson, revered as a Founding Father and author of the words “All Men are Created Equal”, over seeing the punishment of a runaway slave on his tobacco plantation. (Jefferson owned more than 600 human beings at Monticello.) On the right of the image, Ahmaud Arbery takes his last jog before being murdered for running away from two white men in Georgia in 2020.

John Trumbull’s well-known depiction of the Signing of the Declaration now becomes a sort of Picture of Dorian Gray in Birk’s version. Gagged women are now present, as well as unrepresented Native Americans watching with concern as their land is made into a new nation without their consent. The Founding Fathers are all well-armed with contemporary assault rifles, while the tables and chairs they use are held aloft on the backs of shackled slaves.

The United States has invaded the sovereign nation of Mexico not less than 10 times in our history, advancing as far as the capital of Mexico City, all with the stated intent of stealing Texas and California and the lands between them for the Manifest Destiny of the United States. These incursions and subsequent land theft have fostered the flow of immigration from the south to the north, which the US tries to stem by building a border wall.

The Detroit Sit-Down Strike of 1936 at General Motors was one of the most important events of the 20th Century, sparking the Labor movement in the United States, which lead to such reforms as the Five Day Workweek and Paid Vacation. Struggles for fair labor practices continue today at corporations such as Amazon and Starbucks.

The forced incarceration of American citizens by the Federal Government came to pass at Manzanar concentration camp and other Japanese “relocation centers” in 1942, following Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signing of a decree to create them during World War II.

The first American to die in the Revolution was stevedore Crispus Attucks at the Boston Massacre in 1770. Two hundred and forty years later, George Floyd was killed by White officers on the streets of Minneapolis.

By reimagining which images might best tell the story of our nation, Birk also questions what their location in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda might have meant to visitors, tourists, and rioters, bent on stopping the peaceful transfer of power between presidents. How does the location - the implied accuracy and importance of theatrical staged, imaginary moments - affect our understanding of the works and of our History and of ourselves?

Eight New Paintings for the U.S. Capitol Rotunda

Renderings of U.S. Capitol Rotunda with New Paintings