-American

-American was an exhibition about the pluralities of American identity and heritage. The identifiers that span a hyphenated American identity often present a false dichotomy: no one is simply equal parts American and equal parts something else, based on where they live and where their ancestors came from. Sugarlift asked fifteen artists to explore their double consciousness, each one containing multitudes that are not so easily parsed.

The exhibiting artists were Annesta Le, Audrey Rodriguez, Christopher Herrera, Francisco Donoso, Fanny Allié, Guno Park, Hula, Humza Deas, ICY & SOT, Jess X. Snow, Lujan Perez, Marcelo Daldoce, Rohini Sen, Tsultrim Tenzin and Uzo Njoku. Their work ranged across painting, photography and works on paper, and a chain-link mural in orange and blue wrapped around the gallery's street window. Valleys V, a painting by Hula (Sean Yoro) that also served as the show's cover image, hung on the title wall.

The opening reception on November 5, 2020, with masks required for entry, featured a live performance by Metropolitan Opera Orchestra musicians Barbara Jöstlein Currie, Anne Marie Scharer, Javier Gándara and Erik Ralske, the orchestra's principal horn.