MAKING AMERICA

Economic pressures throughout United States have intensified, exacerbating differences in lived experiences. As these structural inequalities grow more visible, they fuel a broader cultural debate centred on national identity and collective memory. Few symbols capture this tension more vividly than the national flag. What was once a symbol of unity and shared ideals, in the eyes of De Jong and many others, has become increasingly prescriptive, stripped of its integrity. In this series of paintings, the flag is deconstructed and abstracted through shifts in form, colour, and texture, critically examining its historical weight and contested role in contemporary socio-political discourse. Influenced by the Arte Povera movement and expressionist traditions, De Jong employs utilitarian materials such as bitumen, aluminium, tar, and rubber, commonly associated with infrastructure and labor, to evoke core aspects of the “American Dream”, a narrative rooted in equal opportunity and meritocratic ideals. These materials are recontextualized as vessels of memory, creating space for cultural dialogue and critique. Through this subversion, De Jong challenges the flag’s conventional meanings and aesthetic function, offering a reimagined, liberated perspective on American identity. De Jong’s Flags can be seen as a continuation of the legacy of socially engaged artists such as Cady Noland, who, rather than treating the flag as a symbol of patriotism, reappropriated its iconography to expose contradictions at the heart of American life. Echoing the concerns of social theorists such as Allan Sekula, De Jong uses his medium not merely to document a disposition but to question how power, labor, and capital are shaped and made visible. The flag becomes a site of inquiry, no longer a fixed icon, functioning as an active countermemory. Throughout Making America, we see De Jong’s inquiry moving beyond the nation’s most recognisable symbols, as demonstrated in works like Lamb and his series of material-based drawings. By combining religious iconography, pop culture references, and industrial materials, the line between the revered and the everyday becomes blurred, creating a sense of ambivalence. These references are not used nostalgically, but instead, are strategically positioned to interrogate dominant narratives, challenging established cultural hierarchies.