Through four large scale paintings, Philadelphia artist Mark Thomas Gibson’s Lineage examines the proposition of “the future of humanity” proposed by the Library Company of Philadelphia’s Samuel Jennings’ 1792 painting Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences (or The Genius of America Encouraging the Emancipation of the Blacks).

Tuesday, October 15, 2024 – Friday, January 17, 2025
Library Company of Philadelphia
1314 Locust Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
Free
In-person
RSVP info: https://librarycompany.org/2023/10/23/a-painting/
More info: https://librarycompany.org/bgc-calendar/

A Beyond Glass Cases exhibition curated by Mark Thomas Gibson, Lineage examines the proposition of “the future of humanity” proposed by Samuel Jennings’ 1792 painting Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences (or The Genius of America Encouraging the Emancipation of the Blacks) through four large scale paintings.

The paintings are informed from Library Company holdings depicting the figure Liberty and listening sessions with Philadelphia high school history teachers; high school students from the social justice media program POPPYN; community leaders attending the political education program Du Bois Movement School for Abolition & Reconstruction; and volunteers from the Paul Robeson House and Museum. The works represent the session participants’ envisioned futures for humanity. Gibson’s paintings are composed within the western narrative painting tradition and seek to reorient viewers to understand our fictional relationship with our perception of history and potential outcomes.