“For Freedoms” Exhibition

Jack Shainman Gallery (524 W 24th St)

This event has ended.

Jack Shainman Gallery presents For Freedoms, the first artist-run super PAC that uses art to inspire deeper political engagement for citizens who want to have a greater impact on the political landscape in the United States.

Co-founded by Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman, For Freedoms raises awareness of the role of money on our political system, encourages more critical discourse within the upcoming 2016 presidential election and questions the notion of “freedom” in the twin contexts of art and politics. Artists collaborating with the super PAC will include Carrie Mae Weems, Jim Goldberg, Alec Soth, Xaviera Simmons and Rashid Johnson, among others.

A super PAC is a political action committee that can receive unlimited financial donations from individuals, organizations, and corporations within the USA, to advocate for or against the election of political candidates. Over one billion dollars has already been donated to Super PACs in 2016 – more than twice that of 2012.

Unlike a connected super PAC which traditionally only supports one particular candidate, For Freedoms promotes engaged citizenship by commissioning works of art for political advertisement.

Inspired by American artist Norman Rockwell’s paintings of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms from 1941, this super PAC aims to subvert a “Rockwellian” nostalgia for a “simpler” America while co-opting a visual language that is accessible to a wide audience of viewers. As part of a long history of artists addressing the political institutions of the societies in which they work, the work included will support candidates from both parties who promote a real exchange of ideas, who promote all voices and who approach politics as a form of civic service.

Please visit www.forfreedoms.org and follow on social media @forfreedoms (Instagram) and @forfreedomspac (Twitter) to get involved! #forfreedoms

Hank Willis Thomas is a photo conceptual artist working primarily with themes related to identity, history, and popular culture. He received a BFA in Photography and Africana studies from New York University and his MFA/MA in Photography and Visual Criticism from the California College of Arts. Thomas’ work is in numerous public collections including The Museum of Modern Art New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The Brooklyn Museum, New York; The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. He is also a recipient of the New Media grant from Tribeca Film Institute and New Media Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography for his transmedia project, Question Bridge: Black Males. Thomas was recently appointed to the Public Design Commission for the City of New York.

Eric Gottesman is an artist, photographer, and teacher. Central to his practice is collaboration. He uses photography, writing and video to engage others in conversation and critical thought about the social structures that surround them, and him. Among other awards, he is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, a Creative Capital Artist Fellowship, a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Grant, and an Aaron Siskind Artist Fellowship. His work is in various collections including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Open Society Institute and his first collaborative monograph, Sudden Flowers, was published in 2014. A former judicial researcher at the Supreme Court of the United States and a political operative in local elections, he is currently a visiting professor at Hampshire College.