Artist/Curator Talk: John J. Abner and Noah Smalls

John and Noah will discuss the history of the artwork FREEDOM NOW! and the historical narrative that inspired it. FREEDOM NOW! references the June 26, 1992 incident that left beloved community window washer Charles Matthews dead after Philadelphia Police responded to reports that Matthews was intoxicated and had a gun. Police fired more than 90 shots at him through a window. The powerful artwork is constructed inside an actual window frame to reference the violent incident. Abner’s elegant collage of rage and history works to encapsulate the brutality faced in black communities at the hands of police, as well as the activist responses staged in the moments that follow and the years beyond.

John J. Abner is a Black African Human Rights Activist working out of Philadelphia PA. He is a graduate of the Tyler School of Art, Temple University, where he studied graphic design and earned a BFA in painting and art history with an emphasis on American photography. He is a former art teacher and Special Education teacher with the School District of Philadelphia. Abner has coordinated several art projects with the Mural Arts Program in Philadelphia and exhibited artwork in juried shows locally and nationally. He is the recipient of the International Award for Excellence in Mixed Media from the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies in Philadelphia and was given the Critics Choice Award from Intermedia Arts Gallery in Minneapolis, MN.