Recent / Forthcoming Publications: African American Art Titles 02/20/13
This list is an addendum to the Black Art Project's recent post
(02/14/13), focusing on new art publications. The blog post is the fifth
in a series that focuses on new titles in African American art. Future
Black Art Project post releases of new titles and its accompanying
addendum will use this as its model-- a short post featuring overviews
accompanied by a WorldCat list of additional titles. Enjoy!
Recent / Forthcoming Publications: African American Art Titles 09/30/12
This list is an addendum to the Black Art Project's recent post
(09/30/12), focusing on new or forthcoming art publications. The blog
post is the fourth in a series that focuses on new titles in African
American art. Future Black Art Project post releases of new titles and
its accompanying addendum will use this model-- a short post featuring
overviews accompanied by a WorldCat list of additional titles. Enjoy!
Black Art Project 1
Black Art Project 1 is the first installment of an inventory of books, exhibition catalogues, and brochures, with a direct focus on African American art, that are a part of my personal collection of print materials. Items appearing on this list are a part of the WorldCat database. In instances where I own a title, but it does not appear on WorldCat, it will not appear in this bibliography. However, those items not appearing on WorldCat are referenced in a personal Excel document.
After posting a brief description of the Kinsey Collection catalogue, "The Kinsey Collection: Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey Where Art and History Intersect," I decided to explore what other personal collections may have been documented in a catalogue. This list represents that discovery. It includes, to the best of my knowledge, art collections that are personally developed or they may have been personal collections from their origin. I have not included collections that had their origin as an institutional, organizational, or corporate collection; catalogues of many of those collections exist, but they are not the focus of this list. This is not a static list, but will evolve and expanded over time, as other sources are identified.
After having a number of conversations with African American artists, it is becoming more evident that many are having problems determining, where their work fits in the traditionally defined art movements, styles, and aesthetics. This list is my beginning exploration into the world of art movements, styles, aesthetics, and other art related "isms." What are the existing movements and trends? How are they defined within aesthetic parameters, etc.? Although the broad term of the "Harlem Renaissance" is easily found in many of the traditional texts, such is not the case for African American visual "art-specific" collectives, such as SPIRAL or AfriCOBRA. What other African American collectives and movements have been overlooked in traditional or even non-traditional texts? Have movements been loosely developed and even nurtured within the historical black colleges and universities? Are black artists individually or collectively creating their own "isms" to define their work?
In a recent interview for the exhibition, Color Exploration, featuring McArthur Binion (University of Maryland University College), Binion states: "The movement where art historians would classify my work would be abstract expressionism. However, I don't think that is the movement for me. For me, the movement has not been named." Perhaps, Binion has found a home in his self-described "Simplicism," a term that he coined and clearly defined over twenty years ago. Claudia "Aziza" Gibson-Hunter, a Washington, DC based artist, is in the process of discovery and exploration as it relates to defining that specialized vocabulary or descriptive terminology that accurately describes her as a contemporary African American artists. These are simply two examples, other artists are on their own path of discovery to determine where their art is best classified.
Art movements and art forms are key to understanding art, and this selective list of titles provide an overview to understanding movements, forms, and critical terms.
After having a number of conversations with African American artists, it is becoming more evident that many are having problems determining, where their work fits in the traditionally defined art movements, styles, and aesthetics. This list is my beginning exploration into the world of art movements, styles, aesthetics, and other art related "isms." What are the existing movements and trends? How are they defined within aesthetic parameters, etc.? Although the broad term of the "Harlem Renaissance" is easily found in many of the traditional texts, such is not the case for African American visual "art-specific" collectives, such as SPIRAL or AfriCOBRA. What other African American collectives and movements have been overlooked in traditional or even non-traditional texts? Have movements been loosely developed and even nurtured within the historical black colleges and universities? Are black artists individually or collectively creating their own "isms" to define their work?
In a recent interview for the exhibition, Color Exploration, featuring McArthur Binion (University of Maryland University College), Binion states: "The movement where art historians would classify my work would be abstract expressionism. However, I don't think that is the movement for me. For me, the movement has not been named." Perhaps, Binion has found a home in his self-described "Simplicism," a term that he coined and clearly defined over twenty years ago. Claudia "Aziza" Gibson-Hunter, a Washington, DC based artist, is in the process of discovery and exploration as it relates to defining that specialized vocabulary or descriptive terminology that accurately describes her as a contemporary African American artists. These are simply two examples, other artists are on their own path of discovery to determine where their art is best classified.
Art movements and art forms are key to understanding art, and this selective list of titles provide an overview to understanding movements, forms, and critical terms.
This short list was created to enhance and provide further readings to a blog post that features the following exhibition: "Against All Odds: The Art of the Highwaymen" at the Orange County Regional History Center in Orlando, Florida. SEE the post at: Orlando, Florida.
This list is an addendum to the Black Art Project's recent post (04/18/11), focusing on new art publications. The blog post is the third in a series that focuses on new titles in African American art. Future Black Art Project post releases of new titles and its accompanying addendum will use this as its model-- a short post featuring overviews accompanied by a WorldCat list of additional titles. Enjoy!
