OVERRIDE | A Billboard Project is a citywide collaborative public art initiative between EXPO CHICAGO and the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) in collaboration with the Chicago Digital Network to exhibit artwork on all CDN billboards and City Information Panels "CIPs" in the Central Business District from April 3—23, 2023. Participants included both emerging and established artists from Chicago and around the world. Placing artwork within this public context and the broader presentation of billboard advertising, OVERRIDE takes its name from industry terminology referring to the continuation of an outdoor advertising program beyond a contracted period. Fully integrated into the language of advertising and local familiar signage, each of the works included within the OVERRIDE program present the opportunity for local and international artists to intercept and push the boundaries of how visual culture is disseminated in our increasingly image-based environment.
Building upon the City of Chicago and DCASE’s longstanding commitment to public art, OVERRIDE provides EXPO CHICAGO a key opportunity beyond Navy Pier to showcase works by leading international artists in neighborhoods throughout the city.
ESMAA MOHAMOUD
Esmaa Mohamoud, The Brotherhood (For Us By Us), 2021.
The Brotherhood (For Us By Us), 2021
Ironically, when we think of the public we often overlook and exclude many communities. Although institutional museums are often public spaces, many people feel unwelcome within them. The Brotherhood (For Us By Us) explores the relationship between two Black male subjects in the public sphere. The mural image depicts the men, who appear to be friends or brothers, standing in the water of Lake Ontario. They are connected to one another through the use of a two headed durag. The goal of this work is to challenge ideas of Black intimacy and vulnerability in a way that highlights both the closeness and the fragility of Black men.
Esmaa Mohamoud, Deeper The Wounded, Deeper The Roots, 2019.
Deeper The Wounded, Deeper The Roots, 2019
In this three-photograph series, Mohamoud uses the language of metaphor to capture the experience of Black bodies in Western history, and to call out the unceasing exploitation of Black body labour that has persisted until today. Reflecting on this history of Black Canadians and the history of Anti-Blackness worldwide, Mohamoud draws comparisons between two different—but similar—fields. On both grounds, Black bodies continue to be exploited for industrial profits, crops then and sports entertainment now. The men in the photos outfitted in Mohamoud’s custom-made jerseys stand tall in the field.
