Amazigh Gothic (Algerian-American, Taous and Cherif)

American Gothic with an Algerian-American daughter and father — Gwenn Seemel
*Amazigh Gothic (Algerian-American, Taous and Cherif)*
2008
acrylic on panel
35 x 30 inches

I asked each of the participants in Apple Pie to write something about what it means to be an American. These are Taous’ and Cherif’s responses.

What it means to be American.

Mixed, multilingual, Episcopal, pagan, Muslim, couscous, pecan pie, frizzy hair, banjo, oud, merguez, buffalo burger, travel, searching for roots, torn, uprooted, where are YOU from, feeling like a foreigner in both of my countries, ducation culturelle, wear what I want, feet in two worlds, two passports, Amazigh, no passport, cabin, Atlas mountains, Mississippi.

- Taous

Experience

Passion, dream and space
Time like sand dripping
Greed towards young retirement
And hard work could end it all
Lies hanging on trees
Dollars like leaves
Autumn is already here
Work until your 70s
And learn to be excited
To show it all off
No, you cannot leave;
You have debt to pay
Has it changed hands?

- Cherif

As with many of the other participants in Apple Pie, I played a big role in deciding which American icon Taous and her dad Cherif would embody for the series. I asked them if I could combine their likenesses with Grant Woods’ American Gothic both because the original painting was a father-daughter portrait as well and because it was intended as a commentary on our country.

Back in 1930, Woods was poking fun at a particular kind of small-town sanctimoniousness that he felt defined the Midwest at the time. In 2008, I wanted my version of the composition to be a foil to American Gothic’s exaggerated plainness, which is why I chose dynamic expressions for Cherif and Taous. The title of my take on the image is Amazigh Gothic and it comes from the Berber word for “free men,” which is fitting since Cherif is Berber and also because it’s a reminder that humans everywhere like to think of themselves as free.

To see an image of Grant Woods’ American Gothic and learn more about the making of Amazigh Gothic, visit this blog post.