Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

If you have a chance, I recommend checking out the AVAM's new exhibition, "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." It's definitely one of the stronger AVAM exhibitions I've seen here, in terms of both subject matter and (often painstakingly, obsessively detailed) execution. Some of the featured artists who stood out especially for me:

• Richard McMahan, who's recreating 30,000 years' worth of art in miniature, piece by piece
• Vincent Nardone, who's been incarcerated since the mid-70'—his drawings capture 1950s-1970s American culture: diners, drive-ins, etc. (Google turns up a different artist by the same name.)
• Renaldo Kuhler, who's built this weird, kitschy yet fascinating series around the fictional country and culture of Rocaterrania
• Jean-Pierre Nadau, who tells us that New York does not exist

More details here and here and here.