The Center for Black Visual Culture, in partnership with For Freedoms, presents Where Do We Go From Here? The Four Freedoms Photographs in the 20 Cooper Square Gallery at New York University.
Opening Reception: September 6, 2024 5:00-7:30 pm
On View: September 6 - November 2, 2024
Cooper Square Gallery
20 Cooper Square, New York University
Created by Hank Willis Thomas and Emily Shur (TSOA ’98), in collaboration with Eric Gottesman and Wyatt Gallery in 2018, the Four Freedoms Photographs are reinterpretations of American artist Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms paintings; representing the eponymous Four Freedoms coined by former President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his 1941 State of the Union Address —freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. By framing artists, activists, community organizers, and friends within these iconic works, For Freedoms modernized American imagery and sparked civic engagement by declaring diversity an essential and undeniable component of freedom.
Sixteen of the Four Freedoms Photographs will be on view for the exhibition. Once created, the images were reproduced and distributed nationwide as billboards, artworks, posters and more as part of the organization’s 2018 50 State Initiative - named the largest creative collaboration in US history and featured on the cover of Time Magazine. In 2023, the Four Freedoms Photographs traveled to Athens, Lisbon, Geneva and Washington, DC at the Smithsonian Museum of American History as part of the permanent collection of the US Department of State Art In Embassies Democracy Collection. This traveling exhibition commemorated the 60th Anniversary of the Office of Art in Embassies, established by President John F. Kennedy to create cross-cultural dialogues and foster mutual understanding through the visual arts. For Freedoms co-founder Hank Willis Thomas was also honored with 2023 U.S. Department of State Medal of Arts, an award created by Art in Embassies, in partnership with the Secretary of State to formally acknowledge artists who have played an exemplary role in advancing the U.S. Department of State’s mission to promote cultural diplomacy around the globe.
As a part of the exhibition, The Center for Black Visual Culture will also host a public panel discussion with For Freedoms artists and authors on their new monograph For Freedoms: Where Do We Go From Here? on Tuesday, October 29th from 6-7:30pm at 20 Cooper Square. Featuring the authors, this panel will be moderated by the Director of the CBVC Dr. Deborah Willis, and followed by a book signing. RSVP here.
We also launched a new fundraising limited editon print with Exhibition A, that will be on view in the gallery and available to shop online.
Titled Let Love Quiet Fear, this artwork invites us to rediscover the precedence of love in the midst of current cultural, environmental, and political crises and to allow ourselves to let go of fear and anger, and recognize our innate interconnectedness. This unique image features many of the figures from the Freedom of Worship series, created alongside the Four Freedoms Photographs - a reimagination of Norman Rockwell's iconic paintings depicting the eponymous Four Freedoms coined by former President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his 1941 State of the Union Address. By framing artists, activists, community organizers, and friends within these iconic works, the artists modernized American imagery and sparked civic engagement by declaring diversity an essential and undeniable component of freedom. Photographs from this series have been featured on billboards across the country, the cover of TIME Magazine, are held in multiple museum collections, and have been exhibited nationwide.
Let Love Quiet Fear supports For Freedoms’ 2024 campaign Where Do We Go From Here?, aimed at inspiring more compassionate civic discourse and action during the presidential election year and in the context of extreme political polarization. This artwork exemplifies the organization’s mission to use art as a tool for radical imagination, systemic change, and the transformative power of storytelling. As For Freedoms continues to engage communities nationwide through artworks, installations, and actions, this edition serves as a beacon of hope and a call to center 2024 in listening and healing.
