By Lois Stavsky
New York University’s Bronfman Center Gallery is delighted to present Einstein on Witherspoon Street: Expressions for Social Justice.
Inspired by Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor’s Einstein on Race and Racism (Rutgers University Press, 2005), Einstein on Witherspoon Street: Expressions for Social Justice celebrates the Einstein overlooked by biographers – the passionate, outspoken activist who relentlessly railed against injustice.
Charly Palmer
Interwoven with images of Einstein are culturally diverse visual expressions that address racism, war and injustice. Aileen Bassis, Elizabeth Sturges Llerena and Juan Sanchez address slavery’s legacy of racism.
Max Ginsburg and Preet Srivastava highlight the stark destructiveness of war, while Tel Aviv-based stencil artist Ame72 satirizes its folly. Iraqi-born artist Ayad Alkadhi fuses Arabic calligraphy and mixed media on Arabic newspaper to depict the paralyzing fear that now grips his native country.
Among those images created expressly for the exhibit is Charly Palmer’s mixed-media composition of Albert Einstein and Paul Robeson. With layered textures, overlapping images and a delicate balance of strong and muted colors, Missing History pays homage to a friendship that has been ignored by history.
Other featured artists include: A1one, Tamar A. Ackerman, Jef Aerosol, Grimanesa Amoros, Daya B. Astor, C215, Florine Demosthene, Dayle Ginsburg, Alec Jacobson, Hawa Kaba, Aaron Lazansky-Oliva, MBW, Mefisto, Jasmine Murrell, Kenji Nakayama, Nelson Rivas, Bonnie Rothchild, Anique Taylor, Matthew Wheeler and Dana Wolfe.
Included too are recollections of Einstein by members of Princeton’s African-American community centered on Witherspoon Street.
Curated by Lois Stavsky, the exhibit opens on Thursday March 26th and continues through June 14th. A reception for the artists will be held on Thursday, March 26th 7-9pm.
The Bronfman Center Gallery is located at 7 East 10th Street between 5th Avenue and University Place in New York City. Gallery hours are: Mon-Thu 8am-10pm, Fri 8am-4pm and Sun 9am-9pm. For further information contact Erica Frankel at 212.998.4122 or
Lois Stavsky at 917.562.8468.