The Art Gallery of the College of Staten Island is delighted to present I can’t breathe, featuring Nona Faustine, Patricia Silva, Kara Walker, and Emma Wolauku-Wanambwa, from Monday, Apr. 11 to Saturday, May 14 in Building 1P, Room 112.
We all recognize “I can’t breathe” as Eric Garner’s final desperate words, captured by his friend Ramsey Orta in a chilling cell phone video. This phrase joins others such as “Hands up! Don’t shoot!” as a rallying cry and metaphor for a new 21-Century civil rights movement. In this exhibition, we also deploy these words metaphorically. The powerful and provocative works in photography and video by Nona Faustine, Patricia Silva, Kara Walker, and Emma Wolauku-Wanambwa suggest that racial and gendered embodiment intersect to produce social and psychological suffocation. However, at the same time, vulnerability and bodily exposure can also be the source of agency and new meaning for artists and activists alike. The works presented in I can’t breathe point to long and complex histories of racism and oppression in order to open the way for different futures.
The exhibition also includes an informational table of readings prepared by the Library faculty, as well as a photographic timeline showing the activist work by Staten Island Against Racism and Police Brutality (siaraPB).
The opening reception will be held on Thursday Apr 14 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. Refreshments will be served.
Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday: Noon to 4:00pm; Saturday: Noon to 3:00pm.
For further information, including class visits, contact Craig Manister at 718.982.2553; craig.manister@csi.cuny.edu.
