The Radical Act of Having Each Other’S Back

THE RADICAL ACT OF HAVING EACH OTHER'S BACK brings together 26 Minnesota artists working across painting, sculpture, photography, installation, fiber, graffiti, and public art. Created in the aftermath of Operation Metro Surge, the exhibition examines how artists can document lived experience when communities are transformed by fear, displacement, and resilience.

At the center of the exhibition is ICED OUT GUERNICA, a monumental 21-by-7-foot collaborative work by Rock CYFI Martinez, EWOK, HOTTEA, and SHOCK. Created with aerosol and acrylic on magnetic canvas, the work reimagines one of art history's most enduring anti-war paintings through the experiences of contemporary Minnesota, transforming a familiar symbol into a meditation on immigration enforcement, community solidarity, and the responsibility to bear witness.

Rather than documenting Operation Metro Surge through statistics or official accounts, The Radical Act focuses on what unfolded within neighborhoods: families supporting one another, businesses adapting, artists responding, and communities organizing to ensure that fear did not become isolation. The exhibition asks what role artists play in preserving these histories while they are still unfolding.

The project grew from Martinez's visit to Madrid, where he encountered Pablo Picasso's Guernica and began imagining what a contemporary monument to collective memory might look like in Minnesota.

Visitors are invited to engage directly with ICED OUT GUERNICA through hand-painted magnetic elements that can be moved across the surface of the work, transforming the audience from observers into participants. The interactive installation extends the exhibition's central question beyond the gallery: What responsibility does a witness inherit after seeing?

Beyond its centerpiece, The Radical Act features work by more than two dozen artists exploring migration, identity, belonging, resilience, state power, and cultural memory. Together, the exhibition reflects on how creative practice can function as a form of civic record, preserving stories that might otherwise disappear while creating space for dialogue, empathy, and collective reflection.

The exhibition also reflects its values through its economic structure. Participating artists will receive 50 percent of proceeds from artwork sales, while the remaining proceeds will support community recovery efforts connected to immigration enforcement in Minnesota. A limited first edition of 50 ICED OUT GUERNICA prints will also be available for purchase.

Following its Minneapolis debut, the artists hope ICED OUT GUERNICA will travel to museums and cultural institutions across the country, extending conversations about public memory, civic responsibility, and the role of contemporary art in documenting history as it unfolds.

Featured Artists:
Adam Turman, Ben Labuzzetta, Biafra, Brandi Kole, Bump Opera, Burlesque of North America, Emily Quandahl, EWOK, Harriet Bart, Holly Henning, HOTTEA, Jennifer Davis, Jess Westberg, Joy Scanlon, Kao Lee Thao, Lawst, Mike Davis, Olivia Grant, Peyton Scott Russell, Piotr Szyhalski, Rock CYFI Martinez, SHOCK, Suyao Tian, Wes Winship, Willard Malebear, and Xena Goldman.

Gallery Hours:
Wednesday-Sunday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.