Representing Democracy

August 29 - November 5, 2024
Reception: Tuesday, September 24, 2:00-3:30pm

Guest Curator: Dean Aimee Krall-Lanoue

Exhibition Statement:
Despite the ending of the calendar year and the shortening of days, I always think of Fall as a time of new beginnings. It’s baked into our cultural experiences, with first day of school photos and back-to-school events. It is certainly a time of transitions for us at HWC, when we meet new students and new faculty starting new schedules with both hope and trepidation. 
We also experience the sense of new beginnings in the fall due to our political structures. We participate in the most fundamental activity of democracy we can when we vote in November. This exhibit pulls from the HWC archives to illustrate the ways art represents democracy. Some pieces are overt, the painting of our college namesake, Harold Washington and some are less so, black and white photographs of people on sidewalks. But, all remind us that politics is about people and resources, policies and privileges, art and representation.
The now ubiquitous 25 year-old rally, protest, and demonstration chant, “This is What Democracy Looks Like” is an equally fitting explanation of this exhibit. This IS what democracy looks like.
- Exhibition Curator, Dean Aimee Krall-Lanoue
Exhibition Works:
Colorful illustration of a group of Dineh (Navajo) children sitting and listening to a man speak with a woman weaving in the background

Shonto Begay, Let's Share, Digital Print of Illustration, 13 x 17 inches, 1990

Black and white photograph of the Statue of Liberty from a low angle. The photograph has white streaks all over the surface, making it look cracked

Artist Unknown, Untitled, Photograph, 28 x 22 inches

Black and white photograph of the view from the back of a bus

Jorge Vega, I Miss The Bus, Photograph, 8.25 x 10.5 inches

Blue and black hued painting of two hands cutting into an American flag cake

Marcelino Stuhmer, Untitled, Oil Painting, 31 x 49 inches

Colorful watercolor painting with many different blocks of text including the phrases "tired of what," "what does that mean to heal," and "it's real bad here"

Judith Artoux, Untitled, Watercolor Painting, 42 x 34 inches, 1989

Drawing of squiggles and text, split into three color blocks, with green on the left, black in the middle, and red on the right. The names written on the drawing include Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, and Rosa Parks, among others.

Artist Unknown, Untitled, Ink and Colored Pencil Drawing, 12 x 16 inches

Digital design of two women standing with signs promoting voter rights for women. There is a repeating pattern of buttons in the background that say "votes for women." The color palette of the digital illustration is pink, red, and dark blue.

Artist Unknown, Untitled, Digital Print, 12.5 x 12.5 inches

Black and white photograph of a crowd of people with one person holding a sign that reads "we want our counselors back"

Salvador Ortiz, One Voice, Photograph, 7 x 9 inches

Black and white photograph of a woman's face wearing sunglasses with the reflections of men in each lens.

Kathleen Karp, Woman with sunglasses, Photograph, 9 x 13.5 inches, 1995

Painting with the faces of Mike Brown and Trayvon Martin on top of painting of the earth alongside the text "Black Lives Matter" and "Don't Shoot"

Aaliyah Steele, Untitled, Acrylic Painting, 17 x 14 inches, 2015

Colorful painting of Harold Washington standing at a podium with a microphone and an L train in the background with the words "For a best America! Americans joining to combat illiteracy"

M. Castilla, A Great Twentieth Century Leader, Oil on Canvas, 44 x 36 inches, 1989

Black and white photograph of women marching in a protest with signs promoting the protection of women's rights

Kathleen Karp, Stop Violence, Photograph, 9 x 13.5 inches, 1995

Black and white photograph of a Chicago street with L train tracks, a group of police officers congregating in the background and a saxophone player in the foreground

Artist Unknown, Untitled, Photograph, 8 x 10 inches

Digital composition with two women raising their fists into the air, a group of women holding a sign saying "Woman Power" and the cover of the book "Feminine Mystique." The background is a repeating pattern of clothes hangers covered with the no sign. The color palette of the composition is red and pink.

Artist Unknown, Untitled, Digital Print, 12.5 x 12.5 inches

Digital print of a young African American boy walking and bundled up in winter clothes including an American flag-patterned scarf. There is a broken chain above the boys's head and the background is broken into two color blocks: black on the left and orange on the right

Artist Unknown, Silent Night, Digital Print, 10 x 8 inches

Drawing on transparency paper of a man with a banner below that reads "Celbratus Unitatum"

Jonathan D. Matthew, Celebratus Unitatum (Celebrate Unity), Graphite Drawing, 12 x 9 inches

Printed illustration of an eagle with a label beneath that reads "In observance of the 35th Anniversary of Harold Washington College"

Artist Unknown, Eagle, Print, 13 x 11 inches, 1990

Black and white photo of a group of women marching and holding a large banner, partially cut off by the photo that reads "uprooted Muslim women: do we really want to help the" and the rest of the banner is cut off

Kathleen Karp, Uprooted Muslim Women, Photograph, 9 x 13.5 inches, 1995

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