John Frederick Kensett, 1816-1872, American. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
we are saying thank you
we are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railings
The Brooklyn Bridge (Variation on an Old Theme), 1939, oil on canvas.
Joseph Stella, 1877-1946, American. Whitney Museum of (North) American Art, NY
we are running out of the glass rooms
Windows in the contemporary galleries at MOMA, NY taken through a prism, 2016
with our mouths full of food
Giant BLT (Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich, 1963, vinyl, kapok, painted wood and wood.
Claes Oldenburg, American born Sweden, 1929. Whitney Museum of Art
to look at at the sky
Vanilla, a chimpanzee, born in a lab in Tuxedo, NY, specializing in HIV and hepatitis and kept with other chimpanzees in a wire cage was finally released in 2022 to a sanctuary.
Here she is, at 28, looking at the sky for the first time in her new sanctuary where she successfully integrated in a band named after NASA and the US Airforce who also use chimpanzees for experiments.
and saythank you
we are standing by the water thankingit
standing by the windows looking out
The False Mirror, 1929, oil on canvas.
Rene Magritte, 1898-1967, Belgian. MOMA, NY
in our directions
back from a series of hospitals
Modern Day Miracle, 1988, acrylic on canvas.
Robert Colescott, 1925-2009, American. On exhibit in 2019 at the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia in ’30 Americans’, painting from the Rubell Family Collection
back from a mugging
Die. American People Series #20, oil on canvas, 1967.
Faith Ringgold, 1930-2024, American. MOMA, NY
after funerals we are sayingthank you
Woman carrying A Coffin; c.1936 oil and Duco on panel.
Luis Arenal Bastar, 1909-1985, Mexican. On exhibit at Philadelphia Museum’s 2016 exhibition: Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism, 1910-1950
after the news of the dead
whether or not we knew them we are
A woman embraces the body of her niece killed in Israeli strikes. October 17, 2023, Khan Younis, Gaza
Mohammed Salem/Reuters
sayingthank you
Incoming, 2016-2017, oil on canvas.
Keegan Monahan, American born 1986, Whitney Biennial, 2019
over telephones we are sayingthank you
as above
in doorways
The approach to Dwarkadish, western Gujerat state. 2010.
One of the holiest of the temple complexes of the Hindu deity, Krishna.
and in the backs of cars
A Lift, oil on canvas, 2018.
Tajh Rust, American born 1989. Photo from the website of Stems Gallery
and on
escalators
Falling Down Escalator, 2020
Ann Mary Kelly (no other information). On view at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia in 2021
remembering wars
Dive Bomber and Tank, 1940, fresco, 6 panels
Jose Clemente Orozco, 1883-1949, Mexican. MOMA, NY
and the police at the door
Tied to the System, Lynched by the Institution, mixed media, 2020
Eustace Mamba Francis, BFA graduate at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. No other information
and the beatings on stairswe are saying
thank you
Police Beating (Untitled), 1943; ink, graphite, watercolor on paper.
Norman Lewis, 1909-1979, American. On exhibit at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Philadelphia in 2015
in the banks we are saying thank you
In a metro station in lower Manhattan, New York.
Tom Otterness, American born 1952
in the faces of the officials
Government Bureau, 1956, egg tempera on wood
George Tooker, 1920-2011, American. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
and the rich
and of all who will never change
US President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, Tech entrepreneur born South Africa, on a campaign stop, Butler, PA. October 5, 2024
we go on sayingthank you thank you
with the animals dying around us
In Midnight’s Garden, cochineal, various insects, mixed media, 2015.
Jennifer Angus, born Canada 1961. The Smithsonian Renwick, Washington, DC in 2016
taking our feelings we are sayingthank you
Blue Ombre, mixed media sculpture, 2016
Tasha Lewis, American. On exhibit at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, 2016
with the forests falling faster than the minutes
of our lives we are sayingthank you
with the words going out like cells of a brain
Two Maps, 1965, encaustic and collage on campus.
Jasper Johns, American born 1930. Whitney Museum of (North) American Art
with the cities growing over us
Standing While All Around Are Sinking, 1977, etching and aquatint
Roger Brown, 1941-1997, American. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
we are saying thank youfaster and faster
with nobody listening we are sayingthank you
Mizaru, covering his eyes, who sees no evil; Kikazaru, covering his ears, who hears no evil; and Iwazaru, covering his mouth, who speaks no evil.
