CONRAD VALONE | «American Inquisition»
26 Fevevereiro 2026 16h00
CONRAD VALONE | American Inquisition
Open Studio | February 26-27, 2026, 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Artist Talk | February 26, 2026, 6:00 PM
Artist Talk | February 26, 2026, 6:00 PM
Zaratan is pleased to present American Inquisition, a pop-up exhibition by Artist-in-Residence Conrad Valone.
This series of photographs asserts a sobering premise: the United States is exactly what it was founded to be. Through her lens, Valone highlights the continued practice of oppressing the marginalized in service of a ruling class, arguing that a nation built upon white supremacist values cannot exist without continuously upholding them.
Central to this conversation is the image of the human hand, used here as a metaphor for both the reach of the government into every facet of life and the learned complacency of the governed. Valone explores a grim social contract: "White America" continues to benefit from the state's hard and soft power so long as they remain complicit in the violence directed at any group the powerful deem a threat.
The work further examines a shift in modern witness. Today, atrocities are recorded by citizens and released without the government’s "lens of absolute righteousness." Yet, a bitter irony remains: while video makes the long-standing oppression of people of color plain, it often only gains broad domestic recognition when that same violence is perpetrated against white individuals.
Physically split into rooms representing two halves of the same fractured system, American Inquisition simultaneously occupies the past and the present. It suggests that the propaganda of American exceptionalism—and the realities it seeks to obscure—have remained unchanged for two hundred and fifty years. Ultimately, the exhibition places the burden on the viewer to see through the theater of politics and decide for themselves whether to believe their own eyes or the state.
This series of photographs asserts a sobering premise: the United States is exactly what it was founded to be. Through her lens, Valone highlights the continued practice of oppressing the marginalized in service of a ruling class, arguing that a nation built upon white supremacist values cannot exist without continuously upholding them.
Central to this conversation is the image of the human hand, used here as a metaphor for both the reach of the government into every facet of life and the learned complacency of the governed. Valone explores a grim social contract: "White America" continues to benefit from the state's hard and soft power so long as they remain complicit in the violence directed at any group the powerful deem a threat.
The work further examines a shift in modern witness. Today, atrocities are recorded by citizens and released without the government’s "lens of absolute righteousness." Yet, a bitter irony remains: while video makes the long-standing oppression of people of color plain, it often only gains broad domestic recognition when that same violence is perpetrated against white individuals.
Physically split into rooms representing two halves of the same fractured system, American Inquisition simultaneously occupies the past and the present. It suggests that the propaganda of American exceptionalism—and the realities it seeks to obscure—have remained unchanged for two hundred and fifty years. Ultimately, the exhibition places the burden on the viewer to see through the theater of politics and decide for themselves whether to believe their own eyes or the state.
BIOGRAPHY: Conrad Valone is an American fine art photographer based in San Francisco, California. Her work is visual storytelling, exploring the complexity of memory and identity in relation to both individuals and American culture. It is a practice based on stripping bare the nostalgia and violence of her nation. She has a BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Her photographs have been showcased in exhibitions and publications in the United States and internationally.
SUPPORT | Zaratan is a structure supported by República Portuguesa – Cultura, Juventude e Desporto / Direção-Geral das Artes