Give a damn. presents art from the Tang collection by artists who, quite simply, give a damn about the world around them and the people in it. Not all artists included in the exhibition identify as activists, but through their art and its interpretations, they become advocates for freedom, equality, justice, and understanding. The exhibition connects many media including painting, textile, photography, and drawing by 20th- and 21st-century artists diverse in race, sexual orientation, gender, age, and nationality. Further, it is a call to action. Visitors are encouraged to write postcards—provided by the museum—to their political representatives about issues meaningful to them. More than 270 postcards were stamped and mailed in support of an ideal democratic process in which all voices are heard and all voices are equal; hundreds more postcards were taken away by visitors to write after they arrived home.
The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
June 30, 2018–September 30, 2018
Publicity Highlight:
- “‘Give a damn.’ at Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Saratoga Springs, New York,” Pictures at an Exhibition, ArtNews, August 28, 2018
Additional Publicity & Reviews (selected list):
- Indiana Nash, “On Exhibit: Tang asks why we ‘Give a damn.'” Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY), July 12, 2018: “‘Give a damn.’ makes the case for reconsidering what you think you know about the world—to care enough about it to really consider why.”
- William Jaeger, “Give a damn exhibit at Tang highlights work of socially engaged creators,” Times-Union (Albany), August 24, 2018: “[T]here is meaningful content. There is no formal fooling around, no art for art’s sake. […] [M]uch of what is here makes you itch to do something, anything, Now.”
- Hannah Kotler, “What to Do Weekly: 9/17–9/24,” SkidmoreNews, September 17, 2018
- “What Happens After the Exhibit?” SkidmoreNews, January 3, 2019
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Rebecca McNamara 