Legally, freedom of speech in the United States protects everyone — citizens and foreigners alike — as long as they are within the country. But in practice, these protections can feel fragile. Immigration policies, surveillance, and political polarization create an environment where expression sometimes feels restricted, and where the consequences of speech can extend beyond the law. I believe freedom of speech is the most important and fundamental value of the United States. Through my paintings, I try to document the changes I witness and capture this moment in time. My art becomes a voice — a way to preserve even a small form of individual expression, especially when that freedom feels at risk.
Bienvenu Steinberg & C is pleased to present Freedom of Speech, Sho Shibuya’s second exhibition in New York. The show will present 20 recent paintings on the Front page of the New York Times, alternating Sunrise and headline-based paintings. Since April 2020, Sho Shibuya (b.1984, Tokyo) has painted the sunrise each morning on the front page of The New York Times, transforming the incessant chaos of the world into a quiet continuity, in his words, "a way to erase the news with nature” in order to capture the present.
