Introduction
Cameron Rowland is an American artist, chosen as a MacArthur Fellow in 2019. He is one of the six fellows from New York City.
Rowland graduated from Wesleyan University with a BA in 2011, and after being awarded the MacArthur Fellowship returned there to address the student body.He spoke about his 2018 work Depreciation that critically examined the economics of slavery.
Art
Cameron Rowland's art has been featured in such collections as the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, among others. Rowland's artwork focuses on critiquing systems and institutions that perpetuate or benefit from racial injustices. Notably, his work featured in the Museum of Contemporary Art, entitled 2015 MOCA REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION, revealed the Museum's history of benefiting from racist systems like redlining. In it he used the Museum's donor plaque listing the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles's sale of the land on which the Museum sits to point out the 8.4 million dollar profit the Museum gained from the redlining process. Other works of his use such objects as manhole leveler rings, wooden desks, and wooden benches manufactured by prison laborers for far less than minimum wage.
According to Artnet Rowland is an example of an artist who is able to place conditions on collectors of his work.They reported that, in some instances, collectors were only allowed to rent, not own, particular works. Since 2015, Rowland has made about half of his works available in this manner. Art Basel's upcoming 2019 Miami Beach show will be the first show to present solely works circulated under this model.