Why Not Art presents · Arts Gowanus Open Studios 2026

The Distance From Here

Michael James Freedman

Four oil paintings and an interactive map bring the human cost of New York City’s traffic crashes into the gallery.

Join us at Littlefield
Oblique installation visualization: four original paintings, a tall New York City map, and four projected images on a gallery wall, with a standing figure showing the scale.
The Distance From Here — installation visualization.
Opening October 17–18, 2026Littlefield · 635 Sackett Street, BrooklynProduced by Why Not Art

The exhibition

The distance is measured in feet. The loss reaches much further.

Why Not Art invites you to Littlefield for The Distance From Here, an exhibition by Brooklyn artist Michael James Freedman that begins on the streets around the gallery.

Four oil paintings are connected to fatal traffic crashes in the surrounding neighborhood. Each title measures the straight-line distance from Littlefield to the site of the crash.

A projected map extends the work across New York City. Visitors point to a location, and four images connected to the closest crashes emerge. The place they choose becomes another “here.”

Join us during Arts Gowanus Open Studios on October 17th and 18th to meet the artist, spend time with the paintings, and explore the installation.

The original works

Four paintings. Four lives.

Oil on linen · 18 × 18 inches each

258 Feet from Here: a red truck grille above overlapping bicycle wheels and loose red, yellow, and blue painted marks.

258 Feet from Here

Victor Hidalgo

1,104 Feet from Here: a white pickup, a blue stroller, and red and yellow marks against a deep blue ground.

1,104 Feet from Here

Arcellie Marina “Cellie” Muschamp

1,924 Feet from Here: a small red and yellow figure beside an immense turning wheel and truck, painted in layered blue, black, white, and ochre marks.

1,924 Feet from Here

Carolyn Cox

3,504 Feet from Here: overlapping white and blue cars, wheels, and branching lines amid sweeping red, yellow, and green paint.

3,504 Feet from Here

Arturo Alberto Baez Cordero

Explore the paintings and the lives behind them on the artist’s site →

See the work in person

Join us at Littlefield.

635 Sackett Street
Brooklyn, NY 11217

Get directions →

Arts Gowanus Open Studios

Saturday, October 17, 2026 · Noon–5 p.m.
Sunday, October 18, 2026 · Noon–4 p.m.

Michael James Freedman will be in the gallery to discuss the work. Demonstrations of his augmented reality project, Crashscape, will also be available during the weekend.

RSVP for the opening weekend

Gallery visit & Crashscape walk

Sunday, November 15, 2026 · 12:30 p.m.

We’ll begin in the gallery with The Distance From Here, then walk the surrounding streets using Crashscape.

Other visits

Outside scheduled events, viewing is by invitation. Please contact the studio to arrange a visit.

Request an invitation →

The artist

Michael James Freedman

Michael James Freedman is a Brooklyn-based artist working across drawing, painting, public data, and civic storytelling. The Distance From Here connects his studio practice with his ongoing art and advocacy work through CrashCount NYC.

Produced by Why Not Art. Presented at Littlefield for Arts Gowanus Open Studios.

For press images, interviews, or inquiries about the paintings, contact the studio.