An exhibit called "Abortion Is Normal" is pushing back against the "fear, shame, and stigma" surrounding abortion, perpetuated by anti-reproductive rights activists and those attacking the right to accessible, safe and legal abortion.
Curated by Jasmine Wahi and Rebecca Pauline Jampol, the exhibition is an "urgent call-to-action" featuring a variety of works from the likes of Cindy Sherman, Barbara Kruger, Hank Willis Thomas, Wangechi Mutu, Rob Pruit and Nan Goldin. These include a depiction of the (officially cancer-free!) notorious RBG and another piece with a letter directed to Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court justice who was confirmed by Republicans despite multiple sexual misconduct allegations.
"This show is about reproductive rights, and more expansively about our right to own our own bodies," Wahi said in a press release. "Many of the artists have not physically gone through an abortion procedure, but have a shared understanding that safe, accessible reproductive rights are absolutely necessary."
Marilyn Minter, Gina Nanni, Laurie Simmons, and Sandy Tait co-organized the event. All proceeds from any sales of the pieces will go to Downtown for Democracy, which will split funds between voter education and advocacy regarding reproductive rights and Planned Parenthood's political action committee for its efforts in 2020 elections.
"A big overarching message from the project and all of this work that we do is that people have to get involved in the political process," Nanni, co-founder of Downtown for Democracy, told Gothamist. "Sometimes just voting isn't enough."
Nanni said the show grew out of a bill to ban abortion in Alabama, which spurred protests in New York City at the time.
Curators named the exhibition "Abortion Is Normal" as a direct response to stigmas against abortion—though they stressed it is not intended to "make light of it" or omit the history behind forced sterilization and abortions.
"The title is meant [and] intended as a statement of camaraderie and caring that in short says: What you choose to do with your body is OK — it is normal," an explanation about the title reads. "Can it be difficult? Yes. Is it your right? Yes."
The exhibition was curated as reproductive healthcare advocates fear the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that codified abortion rights—Roe vs. Wade—could be reversed. States across the country have put forth laws for the sole purpose of challenging the ruling. Last week, more than 200 members of Congress wrote in a brief to the Supreme Court that Roe and another landmark case—Planned Parenthood v. Casey—should be "reconsidered and, if appropriate, overruled."
Even here in New York, often a haven for residents of Republican-controlled states seeking abortion, abortion rights were not codified into law until about a year ago, when Cuomo signed the Reproductive Health Act. Before, people seeking abortions could not do so after 24 weeks unless their life was at danger. That act now makes abortion legal in the state, even if it was banned on a federal level. Nevertheless, few providers offer late abortions in New York.
The first part of the exhibition at Galerie Eva Presenhuber runs now through January 18th. A second part will be displayed at Arsenal Contemporary January 21st through February 1st.
