A detail from A Garden of Heavenly Creatures, a sixteenth-century Safavid painting in the Freer Gallery of Art collection, forms the backdrop for this work. In Sikander’s intervention, the garden has been overrun with an American presence. Globes featuring maps of the United States appear at center, an eagle reigns at top, and the angels have red, white, and blue wings.
Shahzia Sikander (born 1969)
United World Corp, 2003
Watercolor and inkjet on wasli paper
Collection of Jerry I. Speyer and Katherine G. Farley, New York
© Shahzia Sikander. Courtesy: the artist, Sean Kelly, New York and Pilar Corrias, London.