Vernacular Loneliness will examine representations of the Statue of Liberty by artists including Steve McQueen, Danh Vo, Madelon Vriesendorp, and Dindga McCannon, in order to theorize the materiality of freedom and its relation to collectivity and loneliness. The symbolism of the statue, originally a gesture of international solidarity from French abolitionists to the US government, has been newly reactivated in the present time. The book will discuss the productive disorder inflicted on the image of the Statue of Liberty by artists, exploring the complex relationship between liberty as concept and liberty as praxis.
Hannah Black is a writer and artist based in New York. She has written for Artforum, Harpers, Art in America, the New Inquiry, Tank, Texte zur Kunst, Afterall, and other publications. Recent solo exhibitions include Some Context at the Chisenhale Gallery in London, Small Room at mumok in Vienna, and Soc or Barb at Bodega in New York. She has contributed accompanying texts to exhibitions by artists including Sondra Perry, Jesse Darling, Sandra Mujinga, and Barbara Hammer.