[title]
Opening July 14, "Unbound" is a new, free exhibition by Brooklyn artist and acclaimed children's book author Christopher Myers that transforms the library into a vibrant celebration of storytelling. Spanning the Central Library's façade, Grand Lobby, Youth Wing and second-floor balcony, the installation features towering 40-foot tapestries alongside luminous stained-glass sculptures inspired by Myers' forthcoming picture book, Night Ride, due out this September.
Rather than saints or biblical scenes, Myers’ stained-glass work consists of jewel-toned panels depicting kids on bicycles racing through New York City after dark, capturing the excitement of a summer evening ride.
The exhibition, however, goes deeper than the beautiful artwork; it's also a timely meditation on the freedom to read.
Myers' tapestries weave together characters and scenes from some of America's most frequently challenged books, including George Orwell's Animal Farm and Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. Installed throughout the library, the works serve as both a celebration of literature and a response to the wave of book bans that has spread across the country in recent years. (The exhibition is part of Brooklyn Public Library's ongoing Books Unbanned initiative, which advocates against censorship and expands access to frequently challenged titles.)
"There is a ghost library of books never written, movies never filmed, artworks never started, items never posted on the internet and articles that no one dared whisper about,” Myers writes in the exhibition. “This is what censorship looks like, this endless bookshelf of invisible tomes, this empty museum."
The exhibition opens with a public celebration on July 14 from 6pm to 8pm, featuring a conversation between Myers and award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson. "Unbound" remains on view through December 27, giving New Yorkers plenty of time to experience one of the city's most visually dazzling (and thoughtfully defiant) new exhibitions.