Looking for America is part of a non-partisan 50 State Initiative organized by For Freedoms, a collective founded in 2016 by contemporary artists Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman. Active from September through November 2018, the initiative will involve hundreds of American artists and art institutions to spark a national dialogue about art, community engagement, and politics. Through participatory programs and exhibitions, created and presented locally, this nationwide campaign is conceived to unite us in reflecting upon what it means to be an American.
My image from the After: Dreaming in Color series is made from Alexander Gardner’s 1865 portrait of Lewis Payne, a conspirator in the Lincoln assassination. Our contemporary fascination with the cult of the defiant, bad-boy hero seems quintessentially American.
