A new exhibition in Los Angeles explores the complex legacy of Confederate monuments in the United States. One of its central pieces is the melted remains of the bronze statue of General Robert E. Lee, which once stood in Charlottesville, Virginia, and became a focal point for violent clashes in 2017. The statue, now displayed as a pile of bronze and slag, symbolizes a transformation of historical memory.
The exhibition, titled Monuments, is presented at The Brick and at the Geffen Contemporary at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Curated by Hamza Walker, it features ten decommissioned Confederate monuments alongside contemporary works of art. These include a large, graffitied equestrian statue of Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and a striking piece by artist Kara Walker depicting Jackson as a headless, ghost-like figure.
The show comes at a time when debates about Confederate symbols remain highly divisive. Supporters of preserving such monuments argue that their removal erases history, while critics see them as celebrations of slavery and white supremacy. Walker and others involved in the exhibition describe the project as an effort to confront and reinterpret these symbols rather than glorify them.
The Lee statue was removed in 2021 and melted down in 2023 after being donated to the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center in Charlottesville. Activists, including professor Jalane Schmidt, view the act of melting the statue as a way to cleanse and reclaim a painful part of history. The exhibition will run until May, after which most of the borrowed monuments will return to their original locations, while the melted bronze will be used to create a new work of art.
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