Back to the Present: 50 Years of Free Expression with Franklin Furnace

Back to the Present: 50 Years of Free Expression with Franklin Furnace
Wed 23 Sep, 2026, 8pm
22 Boerum Place, Brooklyn 11201

Wednesday, September 23rd at 8pm, ISSUE presents an evening of performance and conversation in partnership with Franklin Furnace as part of their 50th anniversary commemoration and November release of Back to the Present: 50 Years of Free Expression with Franklin Furnace, edited by founder and pioneering artist, Martha Wilson. Held at ISSUE's 22 Boerum Pl. theater during the 2026 Brooklyn Book Festival, the program reflects the two organizations' commitments to experimental practice and freedom of expression, while celebrating their respective anniversary seasons.

Founded by Wilson in 1976, Franklin Furnace has spent five decades championing cutting-edge performance art, avant-garde art practitioners, and their publications. Back to the Present, published by Princeton Architectural Press, traces that history through rare archival materials, artist writings, and reflections on censorship, free speech, and artistic freedom.

The evening extends that dialogue into the present, and features a new collaborative performance by Jean Carla Rodea (2023 ISSUE AIR) and 2020 Franklin Furnace FUND alumn Arantxa Araujo, alongside a conversation between Wilson and "mediamystic maverick" Bradley Eros (1993 Franklin Furnace FUND alumn & 2007 ISSUE AIR) reflecting on live art and alternative cultural spaces across fifty years of interdisciplinary practice.