Prints of Concern
Maxwell Library 2nd. floor
November 8 - March 2025
Art has had a profound influence on public consciousness throughout human history. It has played an indispensable role in the formation of public discourses, representation, and our struggles towards a better society. The best challenges us to think differently, provokes our emotions, and encourages healthy debate with others. In uncertain times, when economic, social, and political systems fail to support society, art and graffiti has served as a vital function of communicating grassroots ideas, sympathies, and demands.
In this increasingly visual age, art can be a galvanizing force for movements and protests. The human urge to make art is rooted in our desire to develop and share lasting narratives that reflect, inform, and construct our identities and societies.
The making of art is an important and vital part of human evolution. It has served as one of our main modes of communication and culture building. Therefore, art can be used as a lens through which observations and interpretations about society can be explored. They are also historical markers that we may mark the progress that we have made, the challenges we still face, the dangers of sliding backward, and the vital importance of staying engaged.
This exhibition attempts to address a small portion of concerns that contemporary artists are now focusing their creative attention to. Included within this collection of works are images that highlight the exploitive use of children and women labor in the manufacturing of Oriental rugs, the collapse of the ocean’s ecosystem, and the sexual and cultural conflicts of identity within our society.