with the headline: A Symbol Wilts, But Holds Hope For a Renewal. Kiyan Williams. The White House Has That Sinking Feeling

The White House Has That Sinking Feeling (Thanks to an Artist)

Kiyan Williams, for their Whitney Biennial commission, recreated the column-lined facade from soil. Viewers can watch as it crumbles, sprouts plants and births insects.

Kiyan Williams at work on the Whitney Biennial commission at their New York studio last month. “Dirt became a metaphor for all of the things that once made me feel ashamed of inhabiting this body. But also that represented the possibility for transformation and regeneration.”Credit...Clifford Prince King for The New York Times

 A version of this article appears in print on March 23, 2024, Section C, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: A Symbol Wilts, But Holds Hope For a Renewal

In “How Do You Properly Fry an American Flag” (2020), Williams nodded to Jasper Johns and to Americans’ love of fatty foods.Credit...Jenny Gorman