“Good Trouble” Exhibition

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poster for “Good Trouble” Exhibition

This event has ended.

Of the many things that Senator John Lewis has been noted for besides his heroic and often dangerous struggle for racial equality, was his strategy of non-violent, civil disobedience that he poetically coined as “good trouble.” The full passage of which his clarion call appears is in a 2018 tweet: “Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.” As the 2020 Presidential Election approaches, it is now more than ever to engage in “good trouble” whether this be in the streets, the workplace, the classroom, or the exhibition space. Artists have a history of expressing variants of Lewis’ sociopolitical resistance through their art when confronted by injustice. Some early instances include Ben Shahn’s The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti (1931-32 ) and Jacob Lawrence’s Struggle: From the History of the American People (1954-56), and since then a slew of artists not only working singularly but also in collectives. And it is in this spirit that Good Trouble: Artists Respond to the 2020 Presidential Election dovetails on, as it is more than an exhibition but a mobilization towards the most important election in recent US history and attendant ramifications both within the US and abroad.
President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement exacerbating climate change, the building of a wall along the US/Mexico border, the violent dehumanization of migrants including children along the aforementioned divide, and Trump’s xenophobia and islamophobia are just a few of many examples of the far-reaching consequences of current administrative policies that need to be stopped, for the sake of the planet, on November 3, 2020. ​

Because of the repercussions of dangerous foreign decisions as well as domestic by the current government, Good Trouble: Artists Respond to the 2020 Presidential Election demands it to be an international exhibition. It is also an assemblage, a convocation, or campaign that will launch artistic salvos against those who seek to oppress the common good. Analogous to the exhibition’s formal heterogeneity is its varied subject matter that rubs up against all forms of social inequality, police brutality, nationalism, environmental destruction and so forth. The exhibition’s curatorial structure entails to mirror the intensification of the national political landscape leading up to the 2020 Presidential Election. It will do this by incrementally installing artworks ​officially ​starting on October 17, safe opening reception (rsvp) in-situ and online on October 25, culminating with the election with performances, live feeds of the election from both Democratic and Republican headquarters, as well as podcasts from artists in Washington DC streets engaging in guerrilla journalism as performance art.

All artists: we call out to you to join us and be the New York Vanguard in this decisive historical moment where we take our lives back for the sake of ourselves and our future, on November 3, 2020.

Al Miller
Alan Carrasco
Aldo Tambellini
Angel Vergara
Anita Glesta
Anonymous
Avelino Sala
Barbara Alper
Blanka Amezkua
Bradley McCallum
Brian Bellott
Cecilia Jurado Chueca
Charlee Swanson
Chin Chih Yang
Christine Davis
Claudia Baez
Colette Lumiere
Despo Magoni
Dominga Valles
Duke Riley
Ebenezer Singh
Emma McCagg
Enrique Jezik
Eugenio Merino e INDECLINE
Ferran Martin
Firoz Mahmud
gua_s
Ivan Navarro | Coutney Smith
Jacobo Borges
Jean Pierre Muller
Jeanette Doyle
Jeffrey Hargrave
Jeffrey Perkins
Jelena Tomasevic
Jim Costanzo
Joan Logue
Joanne Ross
Joaquin Segura
Joel Diaz/Jolibe
John Monteith
Jose Luis Ortiz Tellez
Julia San Martin
Kamruzzaman Shadhin
Karen Giusti
Ke Ming
Ken Cro-Ken
Kyle Goen
Laurie Arbeiter
Lily Kostrzewa
Lydia Venieri
Marjiana Pende
Martin Durazo & Kristin Bauer
Mary Mattingly
Masaaki Noda
Miguel Rodriguez Sepulveda
Noritoshi Hirakawa
Oscar Oiwa
Ouma
Pablo Helguera
Pasha Radeski
Pedro Sanchez III
Rirkrit Tiravanija and Tomas Vu
Robert Boyd
Roberto Visani
Roland Gebhardt
Rosebud Ebenezer
Ruben Verdu
Sachigusa Yasuda
Sarah Maple
Sari Tervaniemi
Stefano Cagol
Susanna Sully
Tania Candiani
Terry Berkowitz
The Renowned Annoying Nun
Tiim| Joseph Ayers + Aya Uekawa
Tom Fruin
Tomoni Shintaku
Victor Sheely
Whitner FaGo
William Anastasi
Xu Bing
Yohanna Roa

Collaborators
Al Limite Collective
Eldon Garnet
The Martin E. Segal Theater Center
Michael Snow
Revolution Books
SUBLIME Art Paper
The Living Theatre
WE WILL NOT BE SILENT
Shipibo Conibo Center, NY

The exhibition curators would like to thank
Kyoko Sato
Elizabeth Rogers
Kenji Tokumitsu
Lara Pan

Media

Schedule

from October 25, 2020 to November 11, 2020

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