American artist and Document contributor Zoe Leonard ushers a new perspective on generations affected by post-war displacement this fall in a new show at Hauser & Wirth, on view today, that views the phenomenon as “statelessness as both an individual experience and a shared social condition.” Leonard’s rigorous conceptualism and personal vision piqued international interest in 1992 following her installation at Documenta IX. Now, “In the Wake” transforms three levels of the New York townhouse using photography, sculpture, and installation as vantage points to understand how migration, technology, and effects of war inform popular opinion. The storytelling begins with photography of the artist’s own family, active participants in the Polish Resistance Movement, after the height of World War II. On the second floor, a showcase of vintage photography manuals reveals attitudes toward “authentic” photographic imagery of the time, the role of the medium during the Cold War, and how the camera is accepted as fashionable today. The final scene of Leonard’s work includes photographs of New York City, particularly of pigeons that roost atop urban dwellings. Entirely, the artist considers how subjectivity frames identity, defines community, and passes through generations.

“In the Wake” is on view at Hauser & Wirth New York, 69th Street from September 13, 2016 until October 22, 2016.