Taryn Simon’s monumental exhibition "Father Country I Do Love You" at the Guggenheim Museum chronicles modern America through the life of a retired F. B. I. agent.

Opened Sept. 18, the show fills the entire rotunda with over 1,000 photographs, video, sculpture, and text pieces, marking the first time a photographer has been given that space. Simon spent years investigating the agent’s career, uncovering connections to TWA Flight 800, 9/11, and other events. She traced the reverberations of his work, researching the lives of those affected—from crash victims to diplomats—across locations including Kenya, Russia, and Israel.

The project functions as a "biography as butterfly effect," weaving together direct and indirect consequences of the agent’s actions. The exhibition sets several records as the largest new commission for the rotunda and the first photographic exhibition of this scale at the museum.