Black Art Project (BAP) Booklist 5

This is the fifth in a continuing series, highlighting either recently published books or those that are forthcoming, that have an African American art focus. When building a personal library that has some focus on African American visual art, it is advisable to make your book purchases shortly after the book or catalogue has been published. Making an early purchase more readily assures you that the titles you are interested in have not gone out of print. When a title does go out of print, the secondary market becomes a viable option; however, you must then weigh cost and condition differences among the few dealers that may have a copy for sale. I can not over emphasize that fine art books are published in smaller print runs than books in other subject disciplines.

The following post and the addendum of recent publications are simply a few new titles that have been released since the last Booklist: 

Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery which is co-authored by Deborah Willis and Barbara Krauthamer is a Temple University Press publication. According to Willis, “We wanted a range of images that showed the scope of the thinking about what freedom looked like. ...We consciously looked for black photographers; we consciously looked for images of women, whose stories have often not been included.”

"Published to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 2013, the book brings together more than 150 images — half never seen by the public — that depict the many ways slavery, Emancipation and freedom were represented by photography during the Civil War era and beyond." (New York Times, 12/21/12: Books) 


Henry Taylor is a forthcoming title published on the occasion of Taylor's 2012 exhibition (January 29 - April 9. 2012) at MoMA PS1. Henry Taylor, a Los Angeles-based artist, applies his brush both to canvas and to unconventional materials, including suitcases, crates, cereal boxes, cigarette packs, etc. His source material includes everyone and everything around him.

Before Taylor studied art formally, he "worked for ten years as a psychiatric nurse at a state hospital. This experience sharpened his interest in, and appreciation for, individuals from all economic and social backgrounds, and encouraged a passion to create an intensely empathetic style of portraiture." 

The expected release date for this publication, which is illustrated throughout, is April 2013. Text is by Laura Hoptman, Naima Keith, and there is an interview by Peter Eleey. 

       

Kara Walker: Dust Jackets for the Niggerati, another forthcoming publication, has an expected United States release date of April 30, 2013. This publication documents Dust Jackets for the Niggerati--and Supporting Dissertations, Drawings Submitted Ruefully by Dr. Kara E. Walker, "a major series of graphite drawings and hand-printed texts on paper that grew out of Walker’s attempts to understand how interpersonal and geopolitical powers are asserted through the lives of individuals. In scenes that range from the grotesque to the humorous to the tragic, these works vividly and powerfully explore the themes of transition and migration that run through the African-American experience." 

The book, published by Gregory R. Miller and Co., is fully illustrated with reproductions of the entire series. It includes text by Hilton Als, James Hannaham, Christopher Stackhouse, and Kevin Young.

Theaster Gates: My Labor Is My Protest was a fall 2012 show (September 7- November 11) at London's White Cube in which Gates created a multi-faceted installation that  "investigated themes of race and history through sculpture, installation, performance and two-dimensional works exhibited both inside and outside the gallery. ...Also included in the show and accompanying catalogue is documentation of The Johnson Library, a library on black American culture installed at the gallery.

This catalogue is edited by Honey Luard with text by Bill Brown, Fred Moten, and Jacqueline Terrassa. 

To view other recent titles, see BAP Booklist on WorldCat.