ARTNET NEWS
By Sarah Coscone
When
Eric Gottesman and
Hank Willis Thomas launched their artist-run super PAC,
For Freedoms, in 2016, they named it after Norman Rockwell‘s famed series “Four Freedoms,” created in 1943. An illustration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address, the paintings, which present an idealized America, identify four fundamental freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. [Thomas] enlisted an old friend, photographer
Emily Shur, to set about recreating all four images in a way that would paint a more accurate, complete picture of the US, with photographer Wyatt Gallery acting as producer. [
More]
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| Norman Rockwell, Freedom of Worship (1943) illustration for the Saturday Evening Post. Courtesy of the Norman Rockwell Museum Collections, © SEPS, Curtis Licensing. |
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| For Freedoms’ interpretation of Norman Rockwell’s Freedom of Speech, featuring news commentator and author Van Jones (standing). Photo courtesy of For Freedoms. |
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| For Freedoms’ interpretation of Norman Rockwell’s Freedom From Want, featuring model Chantal Kammermann (standing left) and film producer Sol Guy (standing right). Photo courtesy of For Freedoms. |
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| "Freedom from Fear" poster |
