NARI WARD
OH FREEDOM!, 2024-25
Cast bronze
19-1/2 x 57 x 3 inches
Edition of 12, with 3 AP
Incised with initials, date, edition number, foundry mark
Published by Carolina Nitsch for Prospect, New Orleans © Nari Ward Studio. Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Seoul, and London, and GALLERIA CONTINUA.
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Nari Ward’s sculptural works employ language, architecture, and found materials to explore themes of racism, power, national identity, and collective memory. OH FREEDOM! is the artist’s first project of its kind in cast bronze, expanding upon Ward’s ongoing use of shoelaces as material. Comprised of nearly 400 different shoelaces cast in bronze and welded to a plaque, the work pushes the possibilities of bronze casting. ‘Oh, freedom’ is a post-Civil War African-American freedom song associated with the Civil Rights Movement.

Nari Ward (b. 1963, St. Andrew, Jamaica; lives and works in New York) is known for his sculptural installations composed of discarded material found and collected in his neighborhood. He has repurposed objects such as baby strollers, shopping carts, bottles, doors, television sets, cash registers and shoelaces, among other materials. Ward re-contextualizes these found objects in thought provoking juxtapositions that create complex, metaphorical meanings to confront social and political issues surrounding race, poverty, and consumer culture. He intentionally leaves the meaning of his work open, allowing the viewer to provide his or her own interpretation.