‘Thoughts on Democracy’ Opens at the Wolfsonian

Today, the Wolfsonian museum of art and design at Florida International University opens Thoughts on Democracy, an exhibition of posters contributed by 60 artists and designers, including Paula Scher and Kit Hinrichs. Each participant was asked to design a visual response to the classic Four Freedoms poster series created by Norman Rockwell in 1943. Each of the four original posters represents an essential American freedom: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

In Rockwell’s posters each freedom is evoked through the quiet narrative style of his illustration. Scher’s biting adaptation views the four freedoms in the context of today’s America and makes powerful use of words. In her series, images of hands romantically convey the four freedoms, but the small text that surrounds them is taken from articles from The New York Times and The Washington Post that demonstrate the Bush administration’s corruption and erosion of each individual freedom.

Hinrichs took a different approach to his response. Rather than focusing on the interpretation of each individual freedom, he portrays the significance of the group as a whole. The freedoms are linked to the graphic representation of the U.S. flag and in one poster combined with an image of a hand as a reminder of individual independence.

Other exhibition participants include Wim Crouwel, 2×4, Ed Fella, Chip Kidd, Neville Brody, Seymour Chwast, Ellen Lupton and Lawrence Weiner. The show remains on view through 7 December, 2008.