Zero Tolerance: Miami

YoungArts is partnering with MoMA PS1 to present an extension of the exhibitionZero Tolerance: Miami, curated by Klaus Biesenbach with Mia Locks, in the YoungArts Gallery.

The exhibition visualizes the ongoing artistic practice dealing directly with themes like artistic freedom and the arts’ responsibility in society and politics. Over the past two decades, some national and international governments have garnered attention for imposing draconian laws that restrict the rights of citizens under the guise of improving quality of life.

Rio de Janeiro has “cleaned up” slums by imposing a militarized police force and Istanbul has put pressure on minority communities by gentrifying the neighborhoods in which they reside. In Russia, the arrest of two members of the art band Pussy Riot for speaking against President Vladimir Putin, along with the passage of anti-gay legislation, has generated international ire. Such restrictive policies have marked everyday life in major cities around the world.

Zero Tolerance brings together works by artists from across the globe that address tensions between freedom and control. Many of the works combine elements of political demonstration and celebratory parades to create art of a charged and ambivalent nature, responding to concerns specific in place and time.