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Sanctuary

Sandow Birk

(b. 1962, United States)

Sandow Birk’s rug design draws from his 1999 painting Northwards the Course of Immigration Makes Its Way, which he based on Emanuel Leutze’s 1891 painting Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way. The Leutze work, which hangs in the US Capitol building, celebrates classic American ideals—bravery, enterprise, self-sufficiency, pursuit of promise—depicting pioneering adventurers navigating a treacherous but beautiful Western landscape. Birk’s intrepid travelers similarly strive for a brighter future, but as suggested by the menacing maw of border fencing and a brutalizing pair of armed guards in their path, the obstacles they face are more malicious, and the rewards far less certain.

Projects

  • Overview
  • On View
  • Past
    • Sanctuary
      • Cornelia Parker
      • Tammam Azzam
      • Sanctuary Volunteer
      • Uman
      • Hank Willis Thomas
      • Miguel Angel Ríos
      • Rashid Rana
      • Ranu Mukherjee
      • Aimé Mpane
      • Julio César Morales
      • Meleko Mokgosi
      • Sanaz Mazinani
      • Hayv Kahraman
      • Emily Jacir
      • Alfredo Jaar
      • Shirazeh Houshiary
      • Thaier Helal
      • Susan Hefuna
      • Mona Hatoum
      • Sherin Guirguis
      • Jeffrey Gibson
      • Nicholas Galanin
      • Ana Teresa Fernández
      • Brendan Fernandes
      • Marcos Ramírez ERRE
      • Ala Ebtekar
      • Jamal Cyrus
      • Mohammad Bozorgi
      • Sandow Birk
      • Diana Al-Hadid
      • Ammar al-Beik
      • John Akomfrah
      • Ai Weiwei
      • Shiva Ahmadi
      • Arwa Abouon
      • Adel Abidin
      • Hamra Abbas
    • Home Land Security
    • @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz
    • Art About Place: FOR-SITE Foundation at the Presidio
    • International Orange
    • Presidio Habitats
    • The Marvelous Museum: A Mark Dion Project
    • Pae White: In Between the Outside-In
    • Chris Drury: Mushrooms | Clouds
    • Shi Guorui: Reproduction and Refashioning
    • Richard Long: The Path Is the Place Is the Line
    • New Work by Cornelia Parker
  • Virtual Tour: Andy Goldsworthy in the Presidio
  • Artist Programs

Artist Editions

  • Syjuco DSC_2956a copy
  • alfarrowmultiple
  • michelepredmultipleopen
  • trevorpaglen-challenge-coin_rdh_001

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Field Notes

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