"Out of Many, One" by Jorge Rodriquez-Gerada

October 4, 2014 - October 31, 2014
The National Mall

A grand landscape portrait from Cuban American urban artist Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada was placed temporarily on the National Mall from October 1 through October 31, 2014. “Out of Many, One,” the English translation of E pluribus unum, stretched across 6 acres of land midway between the World War II and Lincoln memorials along the south side of the Reflecting Pool. The work was a composite portrait of several people photographed in Washington, D.C. The contrast in the face was created from dirt and sand. The portrait was not only an interactive walk-through experience for visitors but was also viewable from the Washington Monument and from space

Artist Statement

Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada was born in Cuba and raised in New Jersey since the age of 3, has worked in his unique style of urban portraiture since 2002.

“My art aims to create a dialogue about the concept of identity, and it questions the role models who are chosen to represent us in the public sphere. These works have no negative environmental impact and are created to poetically blend back into the land.

All of my large-scale “facescapes” can be seen from space and are part of my TERRESTRIAL series; this is my first in the United States. I have created previous pieces in Barcelona, Spain; Amsterdam, Holland; and Belfast, Northern Ireland.“


Partners

The National Portrait Gallery presented “Out of Many, One,” by Rodríguez-Gerada in partnership with the Trust for the National Mall and the National Park Service.

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The work was funded through philanthropic support from Anonymous, Tommie L. Pegues and Donald A. Capoccia, Carol and John Boochever, Irene and Alan Wurtzel, Graham Holdings, Anonymous, and other individual contributors.  In-kind support was provided by  Clark Construction and other generous corporate partners, with consulting assistance from Terry Stancill.

 

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