Now more than ever, art, activism, and collective agency are paramount to evoking real social change. At the dawning of a new era in American politics, Morrison Hotel Gallery celebrates the convulsive spirit of creative revolution and music as a universal language of progress with its latest online exhibition, The American Sound.
Launching on January 19, 2021, the day after we honor the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the exhibition pays hope-tinged homage to picket lines, peace signs and progenitors of the kind of anthems that power movements. This collection of classic imagery seeks to forge new connections and conversations in timely context.
The exhibition’s imagery is decades-spanning, from young men waiting in the quiet of a NJ train station before shipping off to the battlefields of World War II all the way to crowds gathered in the 1970s to protest a different war filled with fresh horrors. Amidst it all, a battle waged here at home, spearheaded by leaders such as Dr. King, Bobby Kennedy, and others who were targeted even as they stood on the front lines to rally others to fight for civil rights and justice. Some of history’s most enduring music served as the soundtrack to it all, from Nina Simone’s blistering “Mississippi Goddamn” to John Lennon’s peace anthems and concert-slash-protests featuring powerful performances by Jim Hendrix, Joan Baez, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and more.
The American Sound serves as a time capsule broken open to reveal past imagery that feels strangely current amidst the events of the past year. Featured photographers include Joe Alper, Jerry de Wilde, Henry Diltz, The Doors Archive, Barry Feinstein, David Gahr, David Godlis, Lynn Goldsmith, Bob Gruen, Art Kane, Robert Natkin, Ken Regan, Amalie R. Rothschild, Ethan Russell, Stephen Sammons, Al Satterwhite, Rowland Scherman, Art Shay, Peter Simon, Chris Stein, and Allan Tannenbaum.
Set alongside an anthemic Spotify playlist including Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone, Tracy Chapman, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Billie Holiday, and more, The American Sound is now online for the public at www.morrisonhotelgallery.com.
