The Spring Redux

The shift in seasons seems to echo the seismic shift to the national dialogue over the course of the past year, especially the conversations around the recent and incredibly inspiring March for Our Lives, the second Women’s March and the Me Too movement. Most importantly, more and more young people are raising their voices and are being heard as dialogue around personal, social, and state responsibility takes center stage.

On a lighter note, this new age of social mindfulness has been captured by millenials with the viral #wokeCharlotte hashtag (referencing the iconic Sex and the City gallerina) trending on social media and perfectly re-capitulated by Refinery29. Though it is a lighthearted and humorous contribution to the conversation, a point is definitely made: it’s important to care and stand up for what you believe in and no longer cool to pretend that you don’t. The 90s ethos of hedonism and the early aughts “post ironic” culture are, for the better, definitely over.

Social consciousness is an important trend in art as well. In the upcoming exhibition Urban Flora artist Penelope Gottlieb’s paintings are both a visual feast as well as an environmentalist wake up call. In lush color, Gottlieb presents beautifully arranged representations of various lost species of flora due to urban development and lack of care for their natural habitats.

Artist Pete Miser works in the realm of social consciousness, making works of snarky wit and cutting humor in a searing take on everything basic, fake, and unoriginal. The works are a commentary on “fake” sentiments such as the ever popular and less than heartfelt “prayers and thoughts” of the political realm that is echoed in his take on the generic boilerplate sentiment in Peace Love Etc.