ARTISTS
Poor People's Art: A (Short) Visual History of Poverty in the United States
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is well known for his 鈥淚 Have a Dream鈥� speech, yet much less emphasis is placed on his campaign to seek justice for America鈥檚 poor, 鈥淭he Poor People鈥檚 Campaign.鈥� This was a multi-cultural, multi-faith, multi-racial movement aimed at uniting poor people and their allies to demand an end to poverty and inequality. Fifty-three years after Dr. King鈥檚 death, the Reverend William Barber II launched a contemporary push to fulfill MLK鈥檚 ambitious brief 鈥� one that calls for a 鈥渞evolution of values鈥� that unites poor and impacted communities across the country. The exhibition Poor People鈥檚 Art: A (Short) Visual History of Poverty in the United States represents a visual response to Dr. King鈥檚 鈥渓ast great dream鈥� as well as Reverend Barber鈥檚 recent 鈥淣ational Call for Moral Revival.鈥�
With artworks spanning more than 50 years, the exhibition is divided into two parts: Resurrection (1968-1994) and Revival (1995-2022). Resurrection includes photographs, paintings, prints, videos, sculptures, books, and ephemera made by a radically inclusive company of American artists, from Jill Freedman's photographs of Resurrection City, the tent enclave that King's followers erected on the National Mall in 1968, to John Ahearns' plaster cast sculpture Luis Fuentes, South Bronx (1979). Revival offers contemporary engagement across a range of approaches, materials, and points of view. Conceived in a declared opposition to poverty, racism, militarism, environmental destruction, health inequities, and other interlocking injustices, this exhibition shows how artists in the US have visualized poverty and its myriad knock-on effects since 1968.
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is well known for his 鈥淚 Have a Dream鈥� speech, yet much less emphasis is placed on his campaign to seek justice for America鈥檚 poor, 鈥淭he Poor People鈥檚 Campaign.鈥� This was a multi-cultural, multi-faith, multi-racial movement aimed at uniting poor people and their allies to demand an end to poverty and inequality. Fifty-three years after Dr. King鈥檚 death, the Reverend William Barber II launched a contemporary push to fulfill MLK鈥檚 ambitious brief 鈥� one that calls for a 鈥渞evolution of values鈥� that unites poor and impacted communities across the country. The exhibition Poor People鈥檚 Art: A (Short) Visual History of Poverty in the United States represents a visual response to Dr. King鈥檚 鈥渓ast great dream鈥� as well as Reverend Barber鈥檚 recent 鈥淣ational Call for Moral Revival.鈥�
With artworks spanning more than 50 years, the exhibition is divided into two parts: Resurrection (1968-1994) and Revival (1995-2022). Resurrection includes photographs, paintings, prints, videos, sculptures, books, and ephemera made by a radically inclusive company of American artists, from Jill Freedman's photographs of Resurrection City, the tent enclave that King's followers erected on the National Mall in 1968, to John Ahearns' plaster cast sculpture Luis Fuentes, South Bronx (1979). Revival offers contemporary engagement across a range of approaches, materials, and points of view. Conceived in a declared opposition to poverty, racism, militarism, environmental destruction, health inequities, and other interlocking injustices, this exhibition shows how artists in the US have visualized poverty and its myriad knock-on effects since 1968.
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