Juliana Laroche, the writer, painter, actor, producer, and activist, is an award-winning and nominee for the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature for her book The Nationality of Modern Man. Her book, which focuses on preserving the traditional cultural identities of various groups of people in America, was previously published as a series of eleven paintings that discussed the place of nationality in American society. In this newest book, Laroche has now combined her discussions of nationality with an examination of how different groups in America are culturally defined by their relationships to gender, race, age, and other categories. As an artist, Laroche’s works frequently address issues of identity and are characterized by vibrant color and shapes, often representing myriad points of connection to her American heritage.
This discussion of nationalities in American painting draws on traditional ideas of what art is and how it should be defined, as well as the historical, social context of the nineteenth century between the advent of Empire and the Civil War. For the past several decades, American artists have increasingly looked to their pasts to understand how they can produce art that is relevant today, and Laroche’s use of age-old nationalities in her painting means that the ideas she puts forth are also relevant to current conversations about race, gender, and ethnicity. The Nationality of Modern Man is timely and insightful, and inspires us to look at the ways that differences in race, gender, and ethnicity shape the way we live our lives today. Whether we are discussing issues of immigration or the fate of certain nationalities, Laroche’s insight into how and why we look at differences in race and ethnicity provides vital insights that will help us better understand our own identities.
One of the ways in which Juliana Laroche examines nationalities is in how she compares the relationship between her partner, Thomas Moran, and his birth country, Ireland. Given the highly contextual and interpretive nature of the work, it’s difficult not to read it as an exercise in empathy, as a way for Laroche to discover the humanity of her subject and how she wants to see Ireland changed through association with him. In the painting, Moran’s features take on a distinctly Irish appearance, and his features appear as those of a person with Irish heritage. This kind of context helps the viewer understand where Moran comes from and why he and his people are interested in the topic of nationality. It helps them understand how their own cultural identity has been shaped by history, and by association with all sorts of other nationalities and cultures.