This fall, a 27-foot-long box truck emblazoned with the phrase “your body is a battleground” in Barbara Kruger’s signature red, white, and black will crisscross the country, full of art related to bodily autonomy—the themes are reproductive justice, queer liberation, and trans joy.
The three-month-long mobile exhibition, titled “Body Freedom for Every(Body)” kicked off in Times Square on Wednesday as an official event for the Armory Show, organized by Newark art nonprofit Project for Empty Space in partnership with Times Square Arts.
It features a rotating selection of work by over 100 artists—mostly reproductions, for insurance reasons. But the list of participants is impressive. Kruger, who did an anti-graffiti vinyl wrap for the truck’s exterior, is joined by the likes of Marilyn Minter, Dread Scott, Ana Mendieta, Laurie Simmons, Andrea Bowers, Chitra Ganesh, Ryan McGinley, Shahzia Sikander, and Helina Metaferia.
“Body Freedom for Every(Body)” was inspired by the Project for Empty Space’s three-part 2019/20 show “Abortion Is Normal,” which was meant to be a safe space to acknowledge that while abortion can be difficult and upsetting, it is also a fact of life.
