This weekend, I flew from my home in the Bay Area to Boston and then drove two and a half hours into the Berkshires to go the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA. I went to see my painting, Declaration of Independence (Slave Owners Redacted), which is a part of their American Stories: Revolution to Rockwell exhibit. The work is a reworking of John Trumbull’s iconic painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence but with all the slave owners removed.
The show is impressive with its breadth and range, featuring celebrated illustrators like William Steig, J.C. Leyendecker, and, of course, Norman Rockwell along side fine art heavy-weights like Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Kara Walker. My work was placed in a display case in the middle of the room dedicated to the Revolutionary War, next to a drawing by John Singleton Copley and on the other side of an original print of Trumbull’s painting. It still blows my mind to type this.
The show is open until October 26.