Curated by For Freedoms, the 2017 Aperture Summer Open exhibition, On Freedom, offers a photographic response to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. The photographers and image-makers selected for inclusion each address these issues in their work in varying ways. By bringing them together, we aim to open up a dialogue about the nature and necessity of political action, the language and means by which we critique and produce avenues for sustainable change, and the relationship of photography to these issues.
In the hands of some of the photographers presented in this exhibition, the camera serves as a mirror, reflecting on the stark limitations that make social inequality visible. In others, the camera serves as a tool of liberation—for the body and the mind, and from personal and ecological danger, social constructs, and political limitations. The selection demonstrates how the democratic nature of photography can serve as a vehicle for diverse perspectives to visualize social problems, spark dialogue, and transform assumptions. For many, freedom may be an illusion, but the photographers here are committed to mapping new aspects of this critical terrain—identifying a trail, pointing out dangers along the way—and ever aiming toward the light.
—For Freedoms
Participating photographers:
Myriam Abdelaziz / Inbal Abergil / Susan Barnett / Claire Beckett / Lisa K. Blatt / Corinne May Botz / Xavi Bou / Jean-Christian Bourcart / Jenny Brover / Gary Burnley / Jasmine Clark / Debi Cornwall / Marcus DeSieno / Daesha Devón Harris / Maureen Drennan / Jess T. Dugan / Dan Farnum / Mike Fernandez / Ashley Gates / Gigi Gatewood / Kris Graves / Matthew Hamon / Jon Henry / Perri Hofmann / Lili Holzer-Glier / Michael Joseph / Stephen Joyce / Rhea Karam / KevinCharityFair / Lali Khalid / Demetris Koilalous / Marta Kosiorek / Holly Lynton / Francesca Magnani / Marc McAndrews / Mary Beth Meehan / Noritaka Minami / Sam O’Neill / Mike Osborne / Joaquin Palting / Argus Paul Estabrook / Ke Peng / Brittany M. Powell / Hector Rene / Jordan Reznick / Daniel Evan Rodriguez / Phil Roeder / David Rothenberg / Mara Sánchez-Renero / Ben Schonberger / Jay Turner Frey Seawell / Daniel Shea and Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa / Danna Singer / Angie Smith / Steven Trent Smith / Allison Stewart / Jared Thorne / Millee Tibbs / Shane Rocheleau and Brian Ulrich / Sandra Chen Weinstein / Harm Weistra / Emily Yang
Select works from the Summer Open are available for sale through Aperture. Please email prints@aperture.org for additional information or with specific artist inquiries. Proceeds from the sale of prints benefit both the artist and Aperture Foundation.
About the Aperture Summer Open
Aperture Summer Open is an annual open-submission exhibition at Aperture Foundation’s gallery that features a wide variety of work drawn from members of our photographic community. Selected annually by a prominent curator or editor, the exhibition seeks to reveal and report on critical themes and trends driving international contemporary photographic practice. The exhibition opens the doors of the Foundation to all photographers, both well- and lesser-known, as it fosters and promotes new ideas and talent.
Schedule a tour:
If your group is visiting Aperture and would like a tour of our current exhibition, please complete the following Tour Request Form.
Aperture’s exhibitions are also funded, in part, with support from the Grace Jones Richardson Trust, and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
About For Freedoms
For Freedoms is a platform for civic engagement, discourse, and direct action for artists in the US. Founded in January 2016, For Freedoms aims to model how art and discourse can urge communities into greater action and participation.
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Opening Reception:
Thursday, July 13: 7:00–8:30 p.m.
Aperture Gallery hours:
Monday–Thursday & Saturday: 10:00 a.m.–
5:30 p.m.
Friday: 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Closed Sunday