The New Order

Ricardo Duffy uses imagery from pop culture to represent "The New Order" of the American experience following controversial California ballot initiatives in 1994. That year, the state voted against a ban on smoking in public and in favor of Proposition 187, which introduced a citizenship screening system and prohibited undocumented immigrants from using state services such as non-emergency health care and public education. George Washington smokes a cigarette in front of a giant Marlboro logo, which hovers over a Southwest landscape. A skull, visible on Washington’s lapel, and the skull-patterned ground beneath a U.S. highway sign depicting immigrants crossing symbolize the deadly effects of state-sanctioned tobacco and immigrant surveillance.