An exhibition at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s MassArt Art Museum in Boston presents a selection of works originally intended for the U.S. pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, which coincides with America’s 250th anniversary. The show, titled “Metes and Bounds,” features sculptures by artist Robert Lazzarini that distort everyday objects tied to American identity, reflecting on themes of power and authority.

Lazzarini’s proposed pavilion project, called “History Maker,” was ultimately canceled amid a complex and politicized selection process complicated by a U.S. government shutdown. Initially a leading contender along with curator John Ravenal, the duo’s contract failed to materialize after the University of South Florida, the exhibition’s sponsor, withdrew support. The State Department later awarded the pavilion commission to artist Alma Allen and curator Jeffrey Uslip, working through the nonprofit American Art Conservancy.

“Metes and Bounds” includes three sculptures from Lazzarini’s original pavilion proposal, alongside additional commissioned works that expand on similar themes. Among these are a set of 12 swirling woodcuts based on the 1507 Waldseemüller map—the first known map to label “America” as a separate landmass—and a wooden lectern inspired by 17th-century colonial meeting houses. A fabric sculpture of a liquefied American flag, which was to be part of the Venice presentation, is also represented.

Lazzarini’s sculptures are characterized by extreme distortions that manipulate form and perception, rendering familiar objects unusable. The works explore two main distortion styles: molten, in which objects like a New York City police barricade and street signs are stretched and twisted, and forced perspective, visible in a rotary phone, a safe with its door blown off, and a wooden institutional chair suggestive of authority. The aggressive lighting and stark gallery presentation heighten their disorienting optical effects.

Curator John Ravenal described the theme as an exploration of the “authoritarian condition” embedded in everyday life, conveyed through these warped objects. The exhibition reflects an interpretation of the United States’ historical role as an enforcer of a postwar global order now perceived as diminished or outdated.

Both Lazzarini, a New York-based artist with a background including exhibitions at MoMA PS1 and the Whitney Biennial, and Ravenal, a former museum director and independent curator, acknowledge that their work addresses a sense of distortion and tension surrounding contemporary American culture and politics. However, some critics note that while the pieces evoke nostalgia and critique authoritarianism, they may also risk reinforcing the very power structures they seek to question, especially as shifts in technology and geopolitics reshape U.S. influence in ways not fully captured by the show’s symbolic objects.

For now, Lazzarini and Ravenal continue to seek opportunities to realize “History Maker” in full, planning to exhibit elements incrementally until the complete project can be presented.