God bless America

Americans are not what you'd call an insecure bunch, but Eric Curry reckons their self-esteem needs bolstering all the same. His series American Pride and Passion is an all-out celebration – nay, glorification – of the workaday 'American Spirit', and in particular the country's industrial legacy. He takes classic American constructions (Corvettes, pick-up trucks, trailers and such like) and from the steel plates and corrugated iron creates a romanticised vision of all-American beauty – all gorgeous, glowing colours, staged compositions and theatrical night-time lighting. And just like that, the average Joe and his labours become 'metaphors for values of character, honor, integrity and pride', as Curry so earnestly puts it.

Holly Kyte