Art: Eric Yahnker is back with a brilliant and timely examination of American culture and society

With the unfurling discussion surrounding the USA’s place in the world in relation to events in Syria, the time is ripe for a coruscating exploration of contemporary American culture and society. Few artists working today are more adept at such an exploration as the mercurial Eric Yahnker, whose work jabs, laughs at, questions, ridicules and satirically mythologises the Land of the Free.

His new show in Los Angeles is called Ebony & Beenghazi and aims to analyse “the Western world’s fixation on choice and its increasingly polarising ramifications.”

And so God become a box-office staple as Kate Winslet in a Titanic inspired painting, WonderWoman and Superman swap gender roles, nationalistic statements are reappropriated to bewildering ends and Hilary Clinton and Stevie Wonder are brought together (at last).

There are times I’ll admit when I am pretty mystified by what point Eric is making, but when he resonates he is one of the most exhilarating creative minds around, harnessing his talents to big, important questions.

Eric Yahnker: Ebony & Benghazi runs until October 12 at the Ambach & Rice Gallery.