After almost two years and a whole pandemic, I’m thrilled to announce that the Artist’s Institute at Hunter College is reopening in the coming weeks with our exhibition NO TEARS: IN CONVERSATION WITH JOHN BROWN, featuring the work of painter Horace Pippin. With Pippin’s “John Brown Going to His Hanging” as the starting point, this exhibition challenges historical narratives of abolition through John Brown’s raid at Harper’s Ferry—knowing that Brown’s goal of Black abolition has not yet materialized in our neocolonial, carceral state. The first hang of NO TEARS features Pippin’s painting alongside wall labels curated by @arts.black’s @lynne_bias and @taylorraldridge that grapple with Brown and Pippin’s histories and the yet-to-be-realized freedom of Black people in the United States. Contributors for the project include: Percival Everett, @jiamirkh, @kristinakayrobinson, @bwebb27 (whose curatorial interventions with Pippin will be shown next year!), Ethan Hawke, @jamesxmcanally, Tawana Petty, and more. We are also showing an excerpt of Dean Moss’ “johnbrown” (2014) with the labels. 💥💥💥 I’ve been working on this project with @jennyjaskey for so long, and I’m so happy to finally be able to share it with y’all. Please join us tomorrow at 1PM ET for our kick-off Zoom webinar with Dr. Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw and R. Blakeslee Gilpin, and stop by the galley this fall and say hi (link in bio for RSVP).