Ulysses Jenkins, Artist

Dream City , 1983

Jenkins's Dream City captures a performance that took place at Rachel Rosenthal's studio in 1981. This almost twenty-four-hour event presented to a paying audience involved performers from various backgrounds, including Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, and African Americans, among them fellow artists Maren Hassinger and Senga Nengudi. Multiple characters and objects interact in a fantastical dream state, linked through a story being told aloud. With this performance, created in response to Ronald Reagan's presidency, Jenkins questioned the state of society, not only the political situation but also social, environmental, and economic issues.