What do we do with difficult photographs? Influenced by the debate around the future of Confederate monuments, through researching archival photographs Eric Gottesman interrogates what can be done with images of white people appropriating Indigeneity. In Beneath the Surface, the wall protrudes to cover a cyanotype depicting William Merritt Chase’s son “dressed up as an Indian.” Including himself in this interrogation, the photograph being consumed by the artist’s daughter is of his own “Cowboys and Indians” themed 6th birthday party in 1982. Gottesman points to the need to examine the narratives which make up our personal and public histories, to reckon with our complicity in existing mythologies that justify stolen land, and to use our agency to build new futures. Plan your visit to this piece and more • parrishart.org/visit/ Image credit: Installation view of Eric Gottesman as part of Another Justice: Us Is Them—Hank Willis Thomas For Freedoms at the Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York, July 23 to November 6, 2022. Photo: Gary Mamay. #WilliamMerrittChase #EricGottesman @forfreedoms @ericgottesman