Watergate / Impeachments
Civil Rights Movement and Black Power / Black Lives Matter
Vietnam War / Family separation policy
Equal Rights Amendment / #MeToo
Voting Rights Act / Voter suppression
“Unprecedented” is a term heard again and again about the contemporary moment: a pandemic, social and economic inequality, an outgoing president upending norms and breaking laws, the disenfranchisement of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) American voters. Unfortunately, Americans can look back on their history and see numerous precedents for all these issues. However, one can find evidence of the good that came from moments of national tumult and turmoil. The 1960s and 1970s provide parallels and even models for activists today. The mutual aid support systems of social movements, the self-determination promoted by the Black Power movement, the non-violent protests of the Civil Rights Movement, and the consciousness-raising of feminists all have resonance in movements today.
This exhibition of works from the permanent collection of the Binghamton University Art Museum draws thematic parallels between these two moments: the 1960s-70s and now, a half century later. It draws viewer attention to the simultaneous breadth and connectivity of artistic production happening in those twenty years. Viewers will find new research on these works, as well as lacunae in our knowledge and future opportunities for investigation and discovery. Often, the labels also include the voices of the artists themselves, or those who studied or who knew them, to give an additional perspective on the work.
It is our wish that this exhibition gives viewers an opportunity to reflect on today’s events and concerns through the lens of an earlier period in American art and history, to examine the networks and connections of disparate forms of art-making that defined the period, and to heed the lessons of our history by turning on, tuning in, and maintaining hope.
