PES X For Freedoms: It is astonishing the lengths to which a person, or a people, will go in order to avoid a truthful mirror

October 31, 2018 - January 18, 2019

Featured Artist:  Amy Khoshbin, Bang Geul Han, DARNstudio (David Anthone & Ron Norsworthy), Dominique Duroseau, Kambui Olujimi, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Melvin Harper, Shaun Leonardo.

It is astonishing the lengths to which a person, or a people, will go in order to avoid a truthful mirror was an exhibition in collaboration with the For Freedoms initiative. The exhibition was inspired by and takes a line from James Baldwin’s short story “This Morning, This Evening, So Soon,” and explored the themes that are still relevant over half a century after Baldwin’s work was published. Participating artists in It is astonishing the lengths to which a person, or a people, will go in order to avoid a truthful mirror included Amy Khoshbin, Bang Geul Han, DARNstudio (David Anthone & Ron Norsworthy), Dominique Duroseau, Kambui Olujimi, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Melvin Harper, and Shaun Leonardo.

“This Morning, This Evening, So Soon,” was published in The Atlantic Monthly, in 1960, and later included in a collection of short stories, “Going to Meet the Man,” this piece followed it’s protagonist through a series of memories and reflections on the eve of his return to the United States after years of living in Paris. The protagonist, a famous Black actor in Paris, ruminated on the prevalence of racism, xenophobia, and anti-multiculturalism in America; he was particularly concerned for the welfare and reception of his White, European wife, Harriet, and their biracial son, Paul.

As with many of Baldwin delicate and visceral short stories, the thematic underpinnings of “This Morning, This Evening, So Soon,” were racism and violence, invisibility and imposed identity, love and loss, pain and precarity, and, perhaps most importantly, the intersections of all of the aforementioned human phenomena. In It is astonishing the lengths to which a person, or a people, will go in order to avoid a truthful mirror, these themes were explored within a contemporary framework.

The collection of works was intentionally underscored by both the timeliness and unfortunate timelessness of what they addressed: the cunning and murderous beast of bigotry and pain that still persisted throughout the American landscape. And the gorgeous cycle of imperfect love, pain, and loss, still unfailingly reincarnated as it did in Baldwin’s time, and all of time.

It is astonishing the lengths to which a person, or a people, will go in order to avoid a truthful mirror recontextualized the ideas in Baldwin’s piece to speak to a contemporary moment of a still divided American socio-political landscape. As part of the partnership with For Freedoms, this exhibition invited audience members to be politically engaged, particularly as the Midterm elections loom over the country, through interactions with various elements of the exhibition.

For Freedoms Mission + History

We believe citizenship is defined by participation, not by ideology. Through non-partisan nationwide programming, we use art as as vehicle for participation to deepen public discussions on civic issues and core values. We are a hub for artists, arts institutions, and citizens who want to be more engaged in public life.

Founded in 2016 by artists Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman, For Freedoms is a platform for creative civic engagement, discourse, and direct action. Inspired by American artist Norman Rockwell’s paintings of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms (1941)—freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear—For Freedoms’ exhibitions, installations, and public programs use art to deepen public discussions on civic issues and core values, and to advocate for equality, dialogue, and civic participation. As a nexus between art, politics, commerce, and education, For Freedoms aims to inject anti-partisan, critical thinking that fine art requires into the political landscape through programming, exhibitions, and public artworks. In 2018, For Freedoms launched the 50 State Initiative: the largest creative collaboration in U.S. history.