Free speech: White artist paints Emmett Till, black artists protest

This piece falls under public art practice. There is a historical context that roots this piece in both historical and contemporary realms. In 1955, 2 white men lynched Emmett Till, these men were then tried and all charges were acquitted. His mother was outraged and published a photograph of Emmett's beaten face from his open casket in Jet Magazine. This photograph was more recently put on a list of the top 100 influential photographs. A white artist by the name of Dana Shutz used this imagery in a painting that was put up in the 2017 Whitney Biennial. Many black artists have protested its existence and how it was allowed in the show. Hannah Black, a black artists from London wrote letters to the curators demanding it be destroyed. Black artist Parker Bright took a different route and stands in front of the painting, trying to obscure the image, but in a peaceful protest, with a t-shirt with "Blalck Death Spectacle" written on the back. He engages in conversations with other gallery goers, and speaks his mind on how Shutz had no right to use such imagery because she is white. I find this fascinating, especially because Bright is doing this as a performative artistic act, using performance art and peaceful protesting to make his voice clear as a Black Artist.