#newvisionsforiris

Happy Father's Day to all the dads and dad figures! Today we look back on an exhibition inspired by fatherhood. For 2021's #NewVisionsForIris, artist Awol Erizku @awolerizku imagined the images as starting points for future dialogue with his daughter, Iris. “I feel like people are invited to a very personal conversation between me and my daughter that’s playing out in the public space.” Visit our story today for a link to an arrangement by Erizku featuring all-black female composers, who Iris has been listening to since birth. Photos by @nicholasknightstudio https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce_cAA6ubzo/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#tbt Awol Erizku's "Going Home" as part of last year's #NewVisionsForIris exhibition on @jcdecauxna bus shelters in New York City and Chicago. If you are in NYC, @awolerizku opens "Memories of a Lost Sphinx" @gagosian today. The solo show extends the artist's 2021 PAF exhibition with new works. “I want to be remembered for Black imagination,” Erizku said in a recent @nytimes interview, “to expand the limits of Black art.” 📷 Awol Erizku “Going Home,” 2020 Courtesy the artist Photo: David C. Sampson @dcsampson, Courtesy of Public Art Fund, NY. Photographic work as a part of Awol Erizku: New Visions for Iris, an exhibition on 350 JCDecaux bus shelter displays across New York City and Chicago, February 24 to June 20, 2021. https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca7XhZWugO8/?utm_medium=tumblr

“I feel like people are invited to a very personal conversation between me and my daughter that’s playing out in the public space.” Today is the last day to see Awol Erizku’s two-city exhibition, #NewVisionsForIris, dedicated to his daughter. Erizku sees the images in the exhibition as starting points for future dialogue with his daughter about complicated issues, and we hope they have been meaningful for everyone who has seen them. Thank you to everyone who visited the show, happened upon it, and experienced it online. And a big thank you to artist Awol Erizku for sharing the powerful visions for his daughter across New York City and Chicago. 📷Awol Erizku “The Last Tears of the Deceased” 2020 2nd Ave. at E 100th St., Manhattan Courtesy the artist Photo: Nicholas Knight, Courtesy of Public Art Fund, NY. Photographic work as a part of ”Awol Erizku: New Visions for Iris,” an exhibition on 350 JCDecaux bus shelter displays across New York City and Chicago, February 24 to June 20, 2021. https://www.instagram.com/p/CQWIt9rll24/?utm_medium=tumblr

“I think spirituality is like the one thing that we can actually engage in anywhere we are. It’s something that’s deeply personal.” Artist Awol Erizku @awolerizku in our final video for his exhibition #NewVisionsForIris, which is on view through *this* Sunday, June 20, in New York City and Chicago. 🎥 @sandenwolff https://www.instagram.com/p/CQRE3EKHEYN/?utm_medium=tumblr

Thanks to everyone who joined us for a very special #PAFtalks @cooperunion with @awolerikzu @ddotpalmer @kingdawoudburgess. If you missed it, stay tuned for a recording of the discussion accompanying the artist's current exhibition #NewVisionsForIris. Visit publicartfund.org/AwolErizku to learn more about the exhibition, find out where in NYC and CHI you can view the works in person, and listen to the "New Visions for Iris" mix 🎧. Created on the occasion of the exhibition, this brand new mix by Erizku exclusively features black women composers including Alice Coltrane, Emahoy Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou, Pamela Z, Nkeiru Okoye, Valerie Coleman, Eleanor Alberga and Mary Lou Williams. image: Awol Erizku, "Going Home," 2020 Ave. C between E 7th St. & E 8th St., Manhattan Photo: Jeff Vespa, Courtesy the artist. Photographic work as a part of Awol Erizku: New Visions for Iris, an exhibition on 350 JCDecaux bus shelter displays across New York City and Chicago, February 24 to June 20, 2021. #AwolErizku https://www.instagram.com/p/COvaRISlYs7/?igshid=1est661vltafh

“The falcon is a symbol and gesture toward freedom. It’s more about the Black man as a master of his domain. [In some images] the bird is just hanging out, no strings attached. He’s just there,” says @awolerizku. Birds appear throughout Erizku’s #NewVisionsForIris, as seen here in "Going Home," photographed in February. Each photograph in the exhibition, or “new vision,” is an invitation to reimagine inherited traditions as our own sources for liberation and inspiration. Explore the works and find one near you in NYC or CHI at publicartfund.org. Awol Erizku “Going Home,” 2020 W Leland Ave. & N Western Ave., Chicago Courtesy the artist Photo: David C. Sampson @dcsampson, Courtesy of Public Art Fund, NY. Photographic work as a part of Awol Erizku: New Visions for Iris, an exhibition on 350 JCDecaux bus shelter displays across New York City and Chicago, February 24 to June 20, 2021. Awol Erizku “Going Home,” 2020 Queens Blvd. between 48th St. & 49th St., Queens Courtesy the artist Photo: Nicholas Knight @nicholasknightstudio, Courtesy of Public Art Fund, NY. Photographic work as a part of Awol Erizku: New Visions for Iris, an exhibition on 350 JCDecaux bus shelter displays across New York City and Chicago, February 24 to June 20, 2021. https://www.instagram.com/p/CNsIZhElM7o/?igshid=a2zz8z3bvw9g