Unload: Guns in the Hands of Artists

Conceived of in the mid-1990s, the exhibition grew out of artist Brian Borrello's response to the growing gun violence crisis in New Orleans. Together with gallery owner Jonathan Ferrara, the two mounted the first Guns in the Hands of Artists show in 1996.

In 2014, Ferrara reorganized the exhibition to feature work by internationally recognized artists. Through their own medium, each artist has used the decommissioned firearms to create works that express a thought, make a statement, open a discussion, and stimulate thinking about guns in our culture.

In collaboration with Quick Center for the Arts, the museum hopes to engage partners and collaborators in taking a hard look at the serious public health consequences of gun violence in America. Our additional programming, including faculty panel discussions, will offer unique opportunities to engage in the conversation about guns in our society, using art as the catalyst for dialogue.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.

IMAGE: Marcus Kenney, Girl with Gun, 2014. Archival pigment print 30 x 21 inches Edition 1 of 4 with 1 AP. Photo by Marcus Kenney, courtesy of Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, New Orleans

Whether or not you go, Guns in the Hands of Artists employs art as a vehicle for dialogue, a call to action, and―ultimately―an agent of change. Using art as a mirror for life and interweaving the works of thirty diverse artists with the voices of seventeen national thought leaders, this book is an important outgrowth of the exhibition.

Click to add this book to your library: Guns in the Hands of Artists