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Thoughts on Democracy: Freedom to Vote 2016

August 26–November 8, 2016
The Wolfsonian–FIU @ 1001 Washington Avenue

A graphic remix project developed in collaboration with designer/author Steven Heller, Thoughts on Democracy: Freedom to Vote 2016 revisited The Wolfsonian’s groundbreaking experiment in politically charged design from 2008. In this cycle, four contemporary designers—Mirko Ilić, Oliver Munday, Paul Sahre, and Bonnie Siegler—unveiled new poster commissions that re-envisioned the politics of Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms posters through the lens of the American voting process today. Beyond FDR’s “four essential human freedoms” (Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear), these artists explored the fifth that underlies them all: our Freedom to Vote.

Also on view were images from the sixty artists and designers who participated in the project eight years prior, projected on the side of the museum after sunset and activating its historic Bridge Tender House. Plus, as in 2008, the new works were featured large-scale at Aventura Mall, from Labor Day through Election Day—bringing the call to vote beyond the boundaries of South Beach.

The exhibition was presented in conjunction with The Politics of -Isms, an installation developed by The Wolfsonian Library.