FOUR FREEDOMS
The traditional view of American democracy as a model of a free and just society is a historical construct contradicted by its very history. 21st century realities and recent legislation have made it more fragile still. Art is a powerful tool in understanding both our history and the consequential times we are living in. Works in this portfolio juxtapose traditional images of the American dream with the realities of today, from police brutality and restricting women’s fundamental rights to xenophobia and racism, while at the same time hailing our diverse society.
Norman Rockwell (American, 1894-1978)
Rockwell’s Four Freedoms paintings, inspired by President Franklin Roosevelt’s address to Congress, became massively popular after they appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post in 1943. Reproduced as posters, they raised millions of dollars for the war effort, and have since symbolized the freedom and prosperity of the American way of life. The limited perspective of the original works has come to serve as a potent reminder of the yetunfulfilled promises of the country and its ideals, spurring artists, activists, and everyday people towards further advocacy for the American Dream.
Accession Number: 2019.4.1 - 2019.4.4
Title: Four Freedoms
Date: 1943
Medium: Offset-lithograph
Rights: © 1943 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Licensing, Indianapolis, IN
KEYWORDS
middle class America; war bonds; American dream; freedom; WWII; Four Freedoms.
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Hank Willis Thomas, Emily Shur + For Freedoms (American)
This work recreates the original representation of the four freedoms by Norman Rockwell, more than seventy years later, in the context of contemporary society. The reimagined scenes portray the complexity and diversity of the American public absent from the Rockwell depictions. Each of these images reinforces the importance of inclusivity from a current perspective. The recreation included celebrities as well as everyday Americans who participated in the wide-reaching project.
Accession Number: 2018.1.28 - 2018.131
Title: For Freedoms
Date: 2018
Medium: Archival pigment print
Rights: © For Freedoms
KEYWORDS
family, Four Freedoms; activism; politics; equality; freedom; American identity; visibility.
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Hank Willis Thomas (American, b. 1976)
The portraits hiding beneath each colorful square memorialize Freedom Riders, black and white activists who risked their own lives by traveling together on buses through the Deep South in 1961 to challenge segregation. Among them are civil rights activist Joe Lewis, Stokey Carmichael, John Luther Dolan, and students Rita Carter and Catherine Burks. Symbolically, the composition is based on a tool used for color correction in photographs.
Accession Number: 2021.1.9
Title: Freedom Riders (Spectrum)
Date: 2021
Medium: UV print on retroreflective vinyl mounted on Dibond
Rights: © Hank Willis Thomas
KEYWORDS
Civil Rights; segregation; freedom riders; human rights; freedom.
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Elsa María Meléndez (Puerto Rican, b. 1974)
Made in response to a 2019 women’s rights march in Puerto Rico to defend the right to safe abortions (which was met with the force of riot police), this textile work adopts the shape of a flower, the universal symbol of purity and femininity. Its center, however, opens to reveal the bright red and vulnerable inside of the flower/woman, and its title suggests the violence contained inside as a metaphor for the female body.
Accession Number: 2021.3
Title: Ustedes aquí adentro, esto es bien violento (You in Here, This is Very Violent)
Date: 2019
Medium: Serigraph on textiles, sewn, embroidered and stuffed, scraps of fabric, cushion stuffing, foam and synthetic materials
Rights: © Elsa María Meléndez
KEYWORDS
female agency; abortion; sexuality; violence; women’s rights; activism; Roe v Wade; freedom.
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Patrick Martinez (American, b. 1980)
Using the format of folders used in schools and originally representing students engaged in athletic activities, Martinez illustrates them instead with representations of specific deatths at the hands of police. The apparent ease of growing up in the US and embodying the American dream is replaced with the reality faced by black teenagers and men when encountering police.
Victims including Walter Scott, Eric Garner and others are thus acknowledged and memorialized.
Accession Number: 2016.17.1
Title: Po-lice Misconduct Misprint (natural yellow)
Date: 2016
Medium: Pigment print on paper-double-side
Rights: Image courtesy of the artist and Charlie James Gallery
KEYWORDS
police brutality; racism; civil rights; freedom.
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Michael Stone (American, b. 1945)
This work addresses contemporary American politics from a playful yet profound perspective. Greek columns allude to the birthplace of the democratic form of government, while Uncle Sam witnesses their destruction, suggesting the fragility of our contemporary democracy. An airplane wing slices through the columns as they jut out of some nameless Middle Eastern desert, satirizing the banal brutality and spiritual toll of America’s cycle of endless twenty-first-century wars.
Accession Number: 2018.7
Title: The End of Democracy
Date: 2013
Medium: Digital C-print
Rights: © Michael Stone
KEYWORDS
democracy; American wars; Uncle Sam; temples; politics; popular culture; freedom.
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ADDITIONAL WORKS
Dana Hoey, We On, 2016
Michael Stone, US Arms, 2009
Patrick Martinez, Po-lice Misconduct Misprint (natural yellow), 2016
Patrick Martinez, Po-lice Misconduct Misprint (natural blue), 2016
Patrick Martinez, Po-lice Misconduct Misprint (mint), 2016
Patrick Martinez, Po-lice Misconduct Misprint (pink), 2016
