Group exhibition organized in conjunction with the “For Freedoms” initiative currently on view at projects+gallery
Featuring work by 14 artists, Cry of Victory and Short Walks to Freedom celebrates creative gestures as small yet impactful victories in the context of a dire political administration that is actively cutting funding for the arts. Together, the show collectively aims to provide a renewed sense of optimism and the potential for dialogue, progress and change.
Curated by Modou Dieng with an eye to bridging contemporary and past struggles, the exhibition include photographs by Kwame Brathwaite, dating from the mid-60s, as well as pieces by thirteen contemporary artists — Derrick Adams, Bunny Burson, Jen Everett, Shabez Jamal, Rodolfo Marron III, Fabrice Monteiro, Esmaa Mohamoud, Alexis Peskine, Michele Pred, Aram Han Sifuentes, Xaviera Simmons, Hank Willis Thomas and Kennedy Yanko.
Cry of Victory and Short Walks to Freedom is organized in partnership with For Freedoms, a platform founded by activist artists Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman in 2016 to foster dialogue about race, art, education, advertising and politics in the United States. “For Freedoms” references on President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s notion of four universal freedoms: freedom of speech and expression, the freedom to worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear, which inspired a series of paintings in 1943 by Norman Rockwell.
Three artist-designed billboards — positioned at various locations throughout the city — also complement the exhibition. Designed by Hank Willis Thomas, Michele Pred and Derrick Adams, the billboards encourage civic discourse in a time of political urgency.
Read more about the exhibition and billboard project in Alive Magazine, St. Louis Magazine and the Riverfront Times. The exhibition will remain on view through November 24.
(Banner image: Aram Han Sifuentes)