Financial District, New York
Group Exhibition
Critical Connections: Protest Photography Past + Present
Pace University Art GalleryStas Ginzburg Josh Pacheco Cindy Trinh Pace University Art Gallery presents Critical Connections: Protest Photography Past + Present, in collaboration with Blasian March — a movement designed to create Black and Asian solidarity through mutual education and celebration. The exhibition features the work of three contemporary photographers who have extensively documented Blasian March. Their work is presented alongside historic images from the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam War protests, which they drew from the George Stephanopoulos Collection of news photography at Pace. Blasian March founder Rohan Zhou-Lee curated additional selections by 17 contemporary documentarians and nine historic photojournalists. The contemporary image makers selected by Zhou-Lee include Lukas Arnold, Gary Dean Clarke, Thomas Ella, Deb Fong, Emma Guliani, Robert Hamada, SD Herzog, Chai Jindasurat-Yasui, Samuel Joseph, Erica Lansner, Shawn Leaf, Mikiodo, Luigi Morris, Nadia Nizam, Ray Rivera, and Madison Swart. The curatorial team includes independent curator Sophia Lin, professor and art gallery director Sarah Cunningham, and Pace student Hannah Arias ’26, the Amelia A. Gould Undergraduate Research Assistant in the Creative Arts. The exhibition title, inspired by Civil Rights activist Grace Lee Boggs’ belief that “movements are born of critical connections, not critical mass,” underscores the importance of intersectional community actions and the ongoing legacy of protest photography. "There is a contrast between how past photojournalists depicted protests—sometimes negatively—and how the contemporary photographers in this show uplift their subjects in solidarity," said Arias. Established in 2020 by Zhou-Lee, Blasian March unites Black, Asian, and Blasian communities. Currently a Practitioner-in-Residence at Pace as part of Pace’s Ground Beneath Our Feet initiative, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Zhou-Lee states, “Blasian March draws directly from the tradition of Black-Asian solidarity during the Civil Rights Era. We’re proud to partner with Pace University Art Gallery to reclaim these erased stories.” This exhibition is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.