Yesterday a reporter asked me why I thought art was important in politics. “Politics is people talking to us and at us. It’s words. The barrage of words today is so overwhelming that we can often no longer even hear or process them. Art presents things viscerally and immediately. Silently. So that the message enters us through the heart or the soul.”
Of course, I see the irony in my use of words to disparage the use of words. So I will keep my words to a minimum here and simply alert you to my latest project, a collaboration with the fearless ForFreedoms.org. As the first artist-run Super PAC, For Freedoms uses art to inspire deeper political engagement for citizens who want to have a greater impact on the American political landscape.
I’m With The Banned @MacayaGallery thru Nov 25th
When For Freedoms invited me a few short weeks ago to collaborate on their incisive Billboards campaign, I thanked the universe for this potent cup of serendipity. Not only am I honored and humbled to work with thought leaders like Hank Willis Thomas and Wyatt Gallery, I’m stunned at how EXACTLY their mission compliments my current exhibition, which the Miami New Times summed up this way, “Sheldon says he sees this year’s election season as a grotesque perversion of American equality. As a white man, he says, he embraces his identity and the innate privilege associated with it, and he hopes that as an ally, his work can enlighten these perversions.”
For Freedoms is all about enlightening the perversions that surround us. At this very moment, their artist-made messages blanket the USA on the sides of trucks, roadside billboards, park benches, bus stops and the like. They hit hard as good art must. Aiming to pierce the noise.
Like For Freedoms, we all must go on offense as we witness the organic end of America’s dominant white Christian paradigm. An animal this deeply entrenched in its ecosystem does not die without a fight. With its back against the wall, its fangs are bared, and it wants blood. But its death by drowning is imminent as America’s demographic tidal wave gets more and more multi-hued. And the words on the Statue of Liberty become manifest. No hater is gonna stop it.
100-feet of hard truth – come out and discuss.
YOU are invited to be a part of this activation. Literally. Monday, Nov 7th, one night before the Election, we debut our 100-foot mural in Wynwood (see invite below). We start at my exhibition, I’m With The Banned, and then move to the mural a few blocks away, where YOU are invited to write on that 100-foot wall what you desire FREEDOM OF and FREEDOM FROM.
If you can’t make it Monday, no matter where you are in America, there’s a good chance that one of the For Freedom’s installations is coming your way. Find out more here.
Upcoming Exhibition Announcements:
I’m With The Banned runs at Macaya Gallery thru Nov 25th: Tue-Fri 10AM-5PM, Sat, Sun & Mon BY APPOINTMENT, (786) 577-0322.
I’ll be showing all over Art Basel Miami this year, including at SCOPE Art Fair, Superfine Art Fair, with Primary Projects and much more. Reach out for details.
IF YOU DON’T LIVE IN MIAMI, I have a simple favor to ask. I DO NOT want to burden you with invites to Miami events that you do not wish to receive, so I am cleaning up this database geographically. I would be grateful if you would simply reply to this email with your name and where you live. I can then be much more targeted and less intrusive in my future outreach.
I’ll leave you with this pic of my mom and brother at the opening last week because … FAMILY
