The Selling of Five Americans and a Place for One World Citizen
1977
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
photo-etching in red and blue on Stonehenge Grey paper
Dimensions
image: 25.4 x 30.8 cm (10 x 12 1/8 in.) sheet: 75.6 x 106 cm (29 3/4 x 41 3/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Kathan Brown
Accession Number
1998.40.2
Art Historical Context
Vito Acconci's *The Selling of Five Americans a Place for One World* (1977) is a striking photo-etching in red and blue inks on Stonehenge Grey, measuring 25.4 x 30.8 cm for the image and 75.6 x 106 cm for the full sheet. Created during the late 1970s, a period when Acconci was pushing boundaries in conceptual and performance art, this print captures his signature provocative style. Known for blending poetry, body politics, and social critique, Acconci often explored themes of identity, ownership, and commodification—ident in the artwork's audacious title, which evokes auctions of nationality ...
About the Artist
Vito Acconci
Vito Hannibal Acconci was born on January 24, 1940, in the Bronx, New York, to Italian immigrant parents as their only son, named after his ailing grandfather. Raised in a supportive household that encouraged artistic pursuits, he attended Roman Catholic schools, including Regis High School, where classrooms lacked female students until graduate school. Acconci earned a BA in literature from the C...