Exhibitions
FREE AS THEY WANT TO BE: ARTISTS COMMITTED TO MEMORY
Hunter Museum of American Art / 10 Bluff View Ave. October 2, 2026 - January 11, 2027 (Reception: October 1 6:00pm - 7:30pm)
Carrie Mae Weems, Terry Adkins, Bisa Butler, Wendel White
The Hunter Museum announces its upcoming special exhibition Free as they want to be: Artists Committed to Memory. Inspired by words James Baldwin wrote during the Civil Rights Movement, Free as they want to be is an exhibition that brings together more than 20 artists who examine freedom through historical artifacts, lived experiences, and collective memory. Originally curated for the 2022 Foto Focus Biennial (a photography celebration based in Cincinnati, Ohio), the exhibition has traveled to numerous prestigious institutions, including Cornell and Harvard, and now makes its way to the Hunter.
Featured artists, including Carrie Mae Weems, Terry Adkins, Bisa Butler, and Wendel White, give form to the idea of freedom through photographs, video, projection, and silkscreen, merging historic and contemporary elements. One work that combines digital innovation with historical elements is Reflections on Civil War (2018) by renowned photographer and MacArthur Fellowship recipient Deborah Willis, Ph.D. (who also curated the exhibition alongside Cheryl Finley, Ph.D.). In Reflections on Civil War, two dancers in 19th-century costume waltz before projected historic and contemporary photos. An antique image of a Civil War soldier covers the dancers in one frame, 21st-century domestic workers in another. The flow of the dance (choreographed by Djassi Johnson) contrasts with the images, highlighting past and present tensions.
“Free as they want to be highlights some of America’s premier contemporary artists, continuing the Hunter Museum’s engagement with our nation’s rich and complex history for the 250th anniversary,” noted Associate Curator Lauren Nye. “We invite conversations that connect the past and present while celebrating these world-renowned artists.”
Marking the start of a calendar of curated programs is the exhibition's grand opening on October 1st from 6-7:30 PM. The Art Wise Distinguished Speaker Series presentation on October 22nd from 6-7 PM will feature artist and exhibition co-curator Deborah Willis, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, sharing firsthand insights into the exhibition’s development. Both events are free and open to the public.
Free as they want to be: Artists Committed to Memory is curated by Cheryl Finley, Ph.D., and Deborah Willis, Ph.D., and originated as a FotoFocus exhibition at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati, Ohio on the occasion of the 2022 FotoFocus Biennial. The traveling exhibition is organized by Curatorial Exhibitions, Pasadena, California.
Image: Hank Willis Thomas, Exodus, 2019, Lenticular. Courtesy of the Gordon Parks Foundation.
