This exhibition can be situated in the intertwined relationship between the first utterance of the word teenager and the advent of rock and roll. For the first time the mass production of sound was farreaching, and in the process, became a platform for constructing identity, social commentary, and rebellion for post-war youth. Ultimately, it is an elusive, often idealized, and highly individualized concept of freedom, but one that is unmistakably recognizable when it occurs. For many of us, it is a disruption, a sound that changes ... Read more

This exhibition can be situated in the intertwined relationship between the first utterance of the word teenager and the advent of rock and roll. For the first time the mass production of sound was farreaching, and in the process, became a platform for constructing identity, social commentary, and rebellion for post-war youth. Ultimately, it is an elusive, often idealized, and highly individualized concept of freedom, but one that is unmistakably recognizable when it occurs. For many of us, it is a disruption, a sound that changes everything, a song that makes you less innocent while making you feel immortal. It is a place situated outside conventions, societal constraints; where changing the world or starting a revolution is not unrealistic. A sense of freedom that manifests most often through the visceral experience of music.

YOU ARE FREE assembles a group of international artists, musicians, and djs whose work is fueled by this notion of freedom. Each of them incorporates music or moments of adolescent transformation and identity into their work through various media and disciplines. Some employ musical tropes and youth cultural codes, others are actual musicians, but all of their works set out to expand and reflect upon this indefinable concept of freedom. These artists mirror that initial impulse, that Utopian teenage dream, fused with a critical reckoning of the world around them.

“This is possibly the ultimate rock ’n’ roll story, because rock is mainly about beginnings, about youth and uncertainty and growing throughand out of them. And asserting yourself way before you know what thefuck you’re doing.” – Lester Bangs