The American Dream, Room 2018

Recap

About the Show

The American Dream, Room 2018 is American hyperrealist artist Pia Sawhney's latest solo project and first installation. The temporary exhibit translates Pia's playful yet dark art on 2D surfaces into filling 3D spaces, bringing the viewer into a world that is a mirror of American life with a caustic twist. It is a modern, immersive, and experiential spin on the white-wall gallery experience.

Viewers walk into the American dream home—complete with picket fence and freshly mowed lawn—but upon closer look, they find a disruptive subtext. Guests explore each wall/room within The American Dream, Room 2018 and uncover Pia’s dystopian view of contemporary life in the United States. With immersive artwork throughout, the viewer steps into the truly ironic and dreamlike world of Sawhney’s creation.

Pia integrates the playfulness of immersive set design with detailed and finely crafted paintings and installations. Inspired by the curiosity encouraged in video games, Pia recreates the nosiness we've been taught to suppress in an Instagram sandbox paradise. If you were to enter someone's house, would you sift through their cabinets? What would you find? The American Dream, Room 2018 is Childish Gambino's "This is America" meets Museum of Ice Cream in a GTA world.

For more behind the scenes, checkout @psthatsme on Instagram

About Pia

Pia Sawhney is a contemporary American hyperrealist artist based in New York City. Self-taught, she works with both traditional and digital media. Medium aside, her goal has been to create pieces of work indistinguishable from photography, while simultaneously trailblazing a new way to experience paintings in galleries and legitimize digital painting in the traditional art community.

Notable Collaboration

Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee, and Jackson Lee - The Lee family wrote about what the American Dream means to them for the exhibit, which can be seen below.

Courtney Buckland - resin cubes, Bible, pill plates, art inside cabinets

Mike Philips - gun doodle journal