Solidarity: A Memory of Art & Social Change

Curated by Jimena Acosta

Exhibition Catalog

September 27, 5-8 pm, Opening Reception

Solidarity examines images in contemporary and historical art and design that are instrumental in communicating a common desire for social change and aid in creating political cohesion. Images that stem from the student revolt in Mexico in 1968, the Black Panther Party, and by the recent Occupy Movement (in the US and the UK) are included and create a dialogue in this exhibition.  Solidarity engages symbols and iconography of political movements, revolution, and radicalism present in society since the 1960’s such as: more power to the common citizen, access to free education, healthcare reform, the fair distribution of wealth in society, and anti-war demonstrations, just to name a few.

This exhibition depicts how young artists and designers appropriate details from historical images, which have been common ground to historical revolt memoirs, and incorporate them into new graphics, newspapers, and the moving image to meet the new needs of a new movement, forming a bridge between past images and the present.  

Showing a range of media from photography, stencil, poster art, newspapers and video, artists and designers include R.Black, Emory Douglas, Shepard Fairey, Forkscrew Graphics, Coco Fusco, Mark Tribe, Tzortzis Rallis and Lazarous Kakoulidis, Edgar Orlaineta, Andrea Salvino,  and Jeff Widener, and features graphic work from the Mexican student movement's in 1968.  The pieces work in tandem to question the role of the arts in recent political discussions, as well as how images and icons change in response to current history in-the-making.