Art4Equality

Kollektive begryp fan ús sabeare ûnferfrjemde rjochten is blancheard ûnder it fuotljocht fan in naasje dy't har konsekwint en selektyf ferfrjemde hat. Dizze wike, in nije groepseksposysje mei de titel "Art4Equality x Life, Frijheid & The Pursuit of Happiness" sil de reaksjes fan artysten sjen litte op dy machtige wurden en de turbulente steat fan ús polityk mei wurken hingje yn Tribeca-galery The Untitled Space en op reklamebuorden yn 'e strjitten fan New York City.

Nei in oerweldigjend antwurd op de oarspronklike iepen oprop, kurator Indira Cesarine wreide de earste plannen fan 'e eksposysje út om úteinlik foto's op te nimmen, skilderijen, tekeningen, skulptueren, en fideo wurket troch oer 50 keunstners. It’s safe to say artists in every medium have had plenty to reflect on over the past six months. The global pandemic simultaneously shattered the existence we once trusted as normal and turned up the spotlight on engrained systemic social injustice and racial inequity in this country.

“With the 2020 elections approaching,” writes Cesarine in her curatorial statement, “I felt that it was a crucial time to create an opportunity for artists to respond, with the artwork presented in a public platform where it can reach an audience of millions of people every day and promote an inclusive dialogue.”

The works on display offer far-ranging reactions to the present moment. From striking representations of Black and Brown bodies in pain, power, and joy, nei medyske sênes dy't de sombere realiteit en hoopfolle yntimiteit fange fan ús nije maskere normaal, de útstalling stiet as in soarte fan fisueel rekord fan de eangsten en dreamen dy't de turbulinsje fan ûnderlizze 2020. Monuminten foar patriottisme en demokrasy, lykas de Amerikaanske flagge en it Statue of Liberty, binne weromkommende tema's yn 'e útstalling, oanfolle mei berjochten dy't de dapperens fan 'e leafde en de krêft fan' e stimbus oansprekke.

"D'r is safolle bart yn 'e media oer de heule wrâld," seit Ashley Chew, waans iepenbiere keunststik, Krekt ynchecken, is in refleksje oer mentale sûnens. "It is hast in aksje fan opstân om no lokkich te wêzen." To Chew, the exhibition title’s nod to the Declaration of Independence means “strength and rebellion, no matter what.”

In addition to the exhibit’s gallery works, ten public billboards unveiled throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens this week will remain on display through October 21. This purposefully accessible element of the exhibit highlights The Untitled Space’s collaborations with SaveArtSpace and Art4Equality. SaveArtSpace is a Brooklyn-based non-profit focusing on nationwide progressive and social change-minded public art installations, and Art4Equality seeks to support and promote equality-themed art by underrepresented and marginalized artists.

Because billboards are typically employed as advertising space, transforming them into art installations that seek to reveal truth and spread impact is a powerful reclamation of public space in a city with a tendency to choke on its capitalist appeal. Despite countless essays declaring New York dead, plenty of tried and true New Yorkers—and essential workers—remain. It is to them, to all those who persist in a city forced into a mode that is its very antithesis, that empowering public art about diversity and equity speaks.

“It is fantastic that art is no longer confined to traditional spaces and is being displayed in unconventional ways,” says Sarupa Sidaarth of the exhibit’s public art element. Her gallery and billboard pieces, Entertainment Unit and Palimpsest, are about equality and diversity. “It should be accessible to people who don’t walk into galleries and museums… Public art has become one of the most important visual domains of our times.”

Gallery exhibition on view from September 26 – October 17, 2020

The Untitled Space, 45 Lispenard Street, NYC 10013

Public billboards on view from September 21 – October 21, 2020 Throughout New York City