ICP follows "Strangers," its ambitious, sprawling, and provocative triennial exhibition, with another ambitious, sprawling, etc., show that could easily have had the same title. "Only Skin Deep," subtitled "Changing Visions of the American Self," investigates photography's role in creating and transforming our sense of national identity, first by stereotyping black, Hispanic, Native, and even white Americans, then by gradually dismantling, if not demolishing, those stereotypes. Curator Brian Wallis, who collaborated with Coco Fusco, sets up the show's argument: "[R]ace and nation—and, indeed, photography itself—are fictions, cultural constructions that shape our social interactions. If photographs are not inherently truthful representations of identity, but must be read to find their meaning, can a different reading of these images break down their... More >>>