WHAT WE WANT IS FREE, 2020
Jeffrey Gibsonexpand_more
Acrylic on canvas, with glass beads and artificial sinew inset into painted wood frameexpand_more
Gift of funds from Mary and Bob Mersky and the Jane and James Emison Endowment for Native American Artexpand_more 2021.28
On View in Gallery 304expand_more
During 2020, a monumental year that included a global pandemic, civil unrest, and call for racial justice, Jeffrey Gibson created What We Want is Free. Quoting Gibson, this work expresses the necessity of “dignity, respect, joy, freedom, and liberation” for marginalized communities. In this painting, Gibson also acknowledges the extraordinary struggles of the past and present and the universal need for all people to be free.
What We Want is Free contains a dazzling array of colors and geometric shapes. Multiple hues of saturated oranges and reds transition to muted greens and blues, and black triangles move diagonally across the painting, offering depth and contrast. Gibson’s paintings resemble a Modernist patchwork quilt with an added dimension of his communities’ aesthetics: the incorporation of color palettes found in historic Choctaw clothing and cultural belongings. Neon colored geometrics appear at the top and bottom of the painting and the title of the work. A beaded frame offers additional texture and is an homage to beadwork found in nearly every Indigenous community across North America.
Details
- Title
- WHAT WE WANT IS FREE
- Artist Life
- (Choctaw-Cherokee), born 1972
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2021.28
- Curator Approved
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