An exhibition of painter Jacob Lawrence is a searing indictment of methodical erasures in our history, and a call to recommit to the democratic principles of liberty and justice for all.
"Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle" is the first museum exhibition of the artist’s tempera panels from his monumental 1954-56 series "Struggle: From the History of the American People" (on view at the Peabody Essex Museum through April 26). Set alongside contemporary works by Hank Willis Thomas, Derrick Adams, and Bethany Collins, Lawrence’s work reads louder and truer than ever.
The three contemporary artists chosen to accompany the Struggle series are thoughtful responses to the themes of Lawrence’s work. Hank Willis Thomas, a photographer and multimedia artist, provides perhaps the most engaging addition: a pair of images that reveal different images to the naked eye and beneath the flash of a cell phone camera. As I stood in the gallery, I watched a parade of viewers uncover the hidden images, the thrill of participation and discovery cushioning the troubling scenes.
Bethany Collins’ 2017 "America: A Hymnal" can be heard throughout the gallery, an eerie soundtrack to the exhibition. Collins collected 100 iterations of the song “My Country Tis of Thee,” playing them simultaneously, an unsettling demonstration of our changing understanding of what it means to be an American.
...
Read full review at wbur.org.
