IMAGE: Render by Barbara Kruger 

 

PROJECT FOR EMPTY SPACE KICKOFF THE BODY FREEDOM FOR EVERY(BODY)  CROSS-COUNTRY TOUR IN TIMES SQUARE ON SEPTEMBER 4th

 

In an effort to advocate for Trans Rights, Liberation and Queer Joy, PES are bringing resources and materials and culture to folks across the nation.

 

NEW YORK, NY | After more than a year of planning, Project for Empty Space’s Jasmine Wahi and Rebecca Pauline Jampol launch the BODY FREEDOM FOR EVERY(BODY) cross-country exhibition tour taking place inside of a 27-foot box truck. Keeping art and artists at the forefront of the initiative's mission, there will be a rotating exhibition of over 100+ artworks on the truck's interior. The exterior will feature a custom wrapping designed by Barbara Kruger including her iconic phrase “Your Body Is A Battleground” which she created back in 1989 for the Women’s March on Washington after a string of anti-abortion laws began to undermine Roe v. Wade. This project is a celebration of intersecting issues pertaining to bodily autonomy such as Reproductive Justice, Queer Liberation, and Trans  Joy! The two-part endeavor (a traveling exhibition and an accessible digital database) addresses the importance of agency, autonomy, and choice when it comes to healthcare and individual identity. 

 

This campaign emerges as a response to a relentless wave of conservatism that continues to politicize queer liberation and restrict reproductive and gender affirming healthcare. The overarching message of this program is broadening awareness of the right to safe, legal, and accessible health care that allows people to live in their power and choice.

 

The Body Freedom Truck will kick off its tour in Times Square in New York City on September 4th, with a viewing and special lineup of programming in partnership with Times Square Arts before it heads off and hosts a series of celebratory and interactive events across the country that include Truck Talks, resource fairs, and performances.

 

Artists participating in BODY FREEDOM FOR EVERY(BODY) include:

Adama Delphine Fawundu, Aimee Koran, Alannah Farrell, Alicia Smith, Amaryllis R. Flowers, Ameya Marie Okamoto, Amy Khoshbin, Ana Mendieta, Andrea Bowers, Andrea Chung, Anindita Dutta, Ann Johnson, Ashima Yadava, Barbara Kruger, Baseera Khan, Bhasha Chakrabarti, Carlos Hernandez, Chitra Ganesh, Chloë Bass, Chris Berntsen, Chris E. Vargas, Christen Clifford, Coralina Rodriguez Meyers, Cornelius Tulloch, Coyote Park, Damien Davis, Danielle Scott, David Antonio Cruz, Demian DinéYazhi', Dread Scott, Eric Hart, Jr., Erin Riley, Felipe Baeza, Grace Graupe Pillard, Helina Metaferia, Jasmine Mans, Jay Michelle Elizondo, Jeffrey Augustine Songco, Jennifer White Johnson, Jesse Mockrin, Jessica Taylor Bellamy, Jonathan Lovett, Juno Zago, Kambui Olujimi, Katrina Majkut, Khari Johnson-Ricks, Laurie Simmons, LJ ROBERTS, Lovie Olivia, Maddie Provost, Marilyn Minter, Michele Pred, Mickalene Thomas, Nadia Waheed, Naudline Pierre, Nina Osoria Ahmadi, Noelle Lorraine Williams, Noormah Jamal, Pamela Ybañez, Patricia Dahlman, Portia Munson, Preetika Rajgariah, Rachel Lee Hovnanian, Renluka Maharaj, Ridikkuluz, Robert Andy Coombs, Roopa Vasudevan, Rose Jaffe, Rupy C Tut, Ryan McGinley, Sahana Ramakrishnan, Sam Kirk, Sarah C. Blanchette, Shahzia Sikander, Sheldon Scott, Shoshanna Weinberger, Suzanna Scott, Taravat Talepasand, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Terrell Villers, Texas Isaiah, Thank God For Abortion/Viva Ruiz, Tuesday Smillie, Wardell Milan, Yolanda Hoskey, Yvette Molina, Zoe Walsh, AND MORE.

 

For the national tour there will be a series of interactive activations happening at the various stops. Programming like “Truck Talks” which is a series of informal conversations inside the Body Freedom For Every(Body) Mobile Exhibition. These conversations, typically between two to three individuals, are reflections on Body Autonomy, and how the fight/celebration for Reproductive Rights, Queer Liberation, and Trans Joy. Participants come from an array of backgrounds: visual artists, film makers, activists and advocates, healthcare workers, etc. The majority of these conversations are recorded (video and audio) inside of the Truck's 'cozy corner'- and will eventually be available in an Oral History Archive on the Body Freedom For Every(Body) website. A selection of “Truck Talks” will be presented as fireside chats in front of a live audience on a stage platform that extends from the rear of the Truck, and is backed by a unique Barbara Kruger artwork.

 

City Stops Include:

New York City: September 4-8

Newark, New Jersey: September 9-10

Washington, D.C: September 12-14

Iowa City, Iowa: September 17 - 20

Kansas City, Missouri: September 21

Los Angeles, California: September 27-28

San Francisco, California: October 15

Tempe, Arizona: October 16-19

Austin, Texas: October 30 - November 2

Houston, Texas: November 7-9

West Palm Beach, Florida: November 14-16

Miami, Florida: December 3-10

 

Additionally and throughout the tour, Project For Empty Space will continue to activate their Chinatown space at 128 Baxter Street daily from 12PM to 6PM as their Body Freedom Headquarters for the local community to utilize for resources, activations and programming. The space will also showcase more artists' works from the truck and the campaign including Amaryllis R. Flowers, Chitra Ganesh, David Antonio Cruz, Eric Hart Jr., Marilyn Minter and Texas Isaiah.

 

Amongst the artworks presented in the HQ there will be a participatory installation, A Series of Choices by Caroline Sinders, who previously mounted the project during PES’ 2023 Feminist Incubator Program. A Series of Choices will prompt visitors to vote for statements that relate to their experience with abortion and culminate in a large-scale, participatory data visualization of this subject. Audience members exercise their enshrined right to vote to assert how reproductive justice issues affect and inform their lived experiences.

 

For more information about the participating artists and to learn more about our location partners and tour stops, please visit Bodyfreedomforeverybody.org.

 

About Project for Empty Space

Project for Empty Space (PES) is a multifaceted arts organization that includes Exhibitions, Artists Residencies, Public Art initiatives, subsidized Artist Studios, and Artist Professional Development/Granting opportunities.. Our programs lean social discourse, including narratives that have been historically and systemically erased. We strive to course correct historic instances of forced marginality, in-equity, and in-visibility. Today, in our efforts to support socially-oriented artists, we maintain a commitment to holding space for both looking back and looking to new potentials and futures.

 

PES is a woman-run, femme-powered, People of the Global Majority/BIPOC, Queer, and unapologetically Intersectional organization. Our permanent homes are in Newark, NJ, and Chinatown, New York City.

 

About Times Square Arts

Times Square Arts, the public art program of the Times Square Alliance, collaborates with contemporary artists and cultural institutions to experiment and engage with one of the world's most iconic urban places. Through the Square's electronic billboards, public plazas, vacant areas and popular venues, and the Alliance's own online landscape, Times Square Arts invites leading contemporary creators, such as Charles Gaines, Joan Jonas, Jeffrey Gibson, Pamela Council, Mel Chin and Kehinde Wiley, to help the public see Times Square in new ways. Times Square has always been a cultural district and place of risk, innovation and creativity, and the arts program ensures these qualities remain central to the district's unique identity.