Collecting African American Art Books, Catalogues, and Ephemera: A Personal Journey

I recently reread a series of essays, Black Bibliophiles and Collectors: Preservers of Black History (1990), resulting from the 1983 Black Bibliophiles and Collectors Symposium at Howard University. In this collection of essays, I am continually drawn to an essay by Bettye Collier-Thomas, Present Programs and Future Needs. Collier-Thomas posed three essential questions that were being addressed by historians, archivists, and collectors interested in documenting the black experience in America. Those questions are still pertinent today and follow:

• What areas of black life and history have not been documented and are not now being documented? 
• What types of materials are necessary to document neglected areas of black life and history? 
• What methodology is necessary to identify and collect these materials?                                                                

Collier-Thomas identified 12 broad areas within which there are important materials that need to be systematically identified and collected. One of those 12 areas focuses on black art and artifacts; the area to which I have focused my collecting.

If you think that book collecting is the exclusive domain of fusty old professorial types, it might be time for another look. Bibliophilia has found new cachet thanks to places like the Las Vegas outpost of Bauman Rare Books in the Shoppes at the Palazzo, - See more at: http://accent.chubb.com/prelude-book-collecting#sthash.jAvqixmG.dpuf

If you think that book collecting is the exclusive domain of fusty old professorial types, it might be time for another look. Bibliophilia has found new cachet thanks to places like the Las Vegas outpost of Bauman Rare Books in the Shoppes at the Palazzo, - See more at: http://accent.chubb.com/prelude-book-collecting#sthash.jAvqixmG.dpuf

Collecting has been my on-going passion for years. The only changes in my collecting habits relate to what items may have had my utmost attention at any given moment. Although there may have been some interest in various collecting categories, I have consistently found immense joy in collecting fine art, and books, as well as ephemera to support that art. Collecting brings me great joy; the discovery, exploration, and eventual reading of these art gems have brought a richness to my life that has been unimaginable. Because I work with a personal budget, I have had to strategically plan, and assess what essentially must be included in the collection. Monographs, exhibition catalogues, brochures, and any print material must pass self-imposed guidelines, and fit into a collection policy plan.  

For over 20 years, I have been very committed to and strongly believed in collecting and preserving African American print materials focusing on black art. Stated quite simply, I collect visual art print material because in my estimation it serves as a key element in identifying and documenting African American artists and highlighting  the historical role these artists have played within the larger field of American art. Historically, there has been a gross lack of documentation in the visual arts, and I refer to this lack of documentation, as compared to many other areas of black history and culture, as a weak link that needs to be strengthened. 

Very early as a collector, I recognized the challenges posed by an overwhelming lack of documentation and inclusion of blacks in American art. Historically, this lack of documentation has resulted from the lack of monographs published over the years; lack of brochures and exhibition catalogues not published to support current exhibitions in galleries, museums, and alternative spaces; and very minimal press coverage that offered reviews.  The current proliferation in the publication of black art books, catalogues, brochures, and etc. is a recent trend of the past 10 years. There have been major improvements in this publishing area, but the publication rate is infinitesimal when compared to the  rate of material published relating to white male artists. Even as the numbers have increased in the publication of materials relating to black artists, repositories are not keeping up with the level of publication in the area of black art. Again, this lack or shortage of print material is what drew me to this collecting field.

This link will lead you to a small portion of what has been collected to date. This simply represents a small percentage of my existing collection: inventory

In upcoming posts, I will continue this discussion, focusing on the trend of book collecting today; the publishing trends in the area of the visual arts; why collect; and what to collect. Who were some of the historical bibliophiles? Who are some of the black bibliophiles of the 21st and what are they collecting? Stay tune as I venture into further discussions into this largely neglected collecting field of print materials relating to black art/artists.

Abigail DeVille's Harlem Stories: Artist Talk

            

Exercise of acknowledgement        Telling invisible history

Displacement       Reclaiming other space/territory      

Great migration       New people moving in...

             Old people being moved out        

Trash is the archaeological evidence of the present moment 

Trash is our record of existence       

History permeates everything

           

RESULTS: Swann's African-American Fine Art Sale 2402

Swann Auction Galleries' African-American Fine Art Sale 2402 held on December 15th brought in $3,117,132 with buyer’s premium, surpassing its pre-sale high estimate ($2,911,300) for the sale as a whole. Of the 150 lots that were offered at auction, 117 sold (78% sell-through rate by lot). According to Nigel Freeman, Swann Galleries’ Director of African-American Fine Art, “This sale was our department's best auction to date­–with our highest level of sales and a new record price at auction for Norman Lewis with the sale of his 1958 Untitled oil on canvas for $965,000. It smashed our previous record and demonstrates the rising stature and value of this important American artist. Also notable was a record for the highest price for a non-sculpture work by Elizabeth Catlett with Friends, her first painting to come to auction. ”

Select highlights from the African-American Fine Art (Sale 2402) are featured in this post, focusing on those lots which surpassed their pre-sale high estimates. All price quotes for art sold include buyer's premium.

Lot 49  NORMAN LEWIS (1909 - 1979)
Untitled. (Oil on linen canvas, circa 1958. 1295x1625 mm; 51x64 inches. Signed in oil, lower left.)

This masterful mid-century composition is a newly discovered and important example of Norman Lewis' painting. This previously unrecorded painting reveals yet another dimension to his late 1950s body of abstraction. Lot 49 had a pre-sale high auction estimate of $350,000; it sold for $965,000, setting an auction record for the artist. 


Lot 85  ALMA W. THOMAS (1891 - 1978)
Fall Atmosphere. (Acrylic on cotton canvas, 1971. 457x610 mm; 18x24 inches. Signed and dated in acrylic, lower right recto. Signed, titled, numbered "(10)" and inscribed "1530 15th Street, N.W." in orange ink, verso.) 

Fall Atmosphere is a wonderful example of Alma Thomas' vertical stripe abstractions from the late 1960s and early 1970s. This study of light and color is distinguished by its palette of beautiful fall colors. Lot 85, Fall Atmosphere, had a high estimate of $75,000; it sold to a collector for $87,500. 

Lot 86  SAM GILLIAM (1933 - )
Scatter Pisces. (Acrylic and flocking on cotton canvas, with canvas collage, 1973. 1016x762x51 mm; 40x30x2 inches, with beveled edges. Signed, titled and dated in ink, upper right verso.)

This richly textured painting is a fascinating and scarce example of Sam Gilliam's work between the stained beveled-edge paintings of 1970-72 and the collaged paintings of mid-1970s. Scatter Pisces, Lot 86, had a high estimate of $25,000; it sold to a collector for $67,500.


Lot 104   BARKLEY L. HENDRICKS (1945 - )
Tuff Tony. (Oil and acrylic on linen canvas, 1978. 1829x1220 mm; 72x48 inches. Signed in oil, upper right.)
 

Tuff Tony is an excellent example of Barkley Hendricks' striking portraits, and one of his most widely exhibited paintings. Tuff Tony embodies the look and attitude that Barkley Hendricks famously captured in his late 1970s life-size figures against solid color backgrounds. Lot 104 sold for $365,000 to a collector, selling for twice its high pre-sale estimate of $180,000. This sale tied the auction record for Barkley Hendricks (Swann Galleries, April 2, 2015). 

Lot 125    HUGHIE LEE-SMITH (1915 - 1999)
Performers. (Oil on linen canvas, 1990. 1168x1016 mm; 46x40 inches. Signed in oil, lower right.)

Performers is a significant later work by the artist, and the largest painting yet by Hughie Lee-Smith to be offered at auction. The evocative painting demonstrates Lee-Smith's consistent exploration of narrative and identity in a 1990s series of paintings with figures on stage or in a theatre. This work has a high estimate of $90,000, and sold to a collector for $143,000.

SEE Final Results for all lots in Sale 2402. 

Live online bidding was available via invaluable.com. Thanks to Swann Galleries for the use of images and written material in the catalogue.

Upcoming Art Talks: Fall/Winter 2015

Atlanta, Georgia

The Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia

Sheila Pree Bright: 1960Now

Artist Talk 

November 19, 2015, 7:00 p.m.; reception at 6:30 p.m.
 

Cincinnati, Ohio

The Taft Museum of Art

“The Enslaved Revolt:” The Origin, Impact, and Legacy of the Haitian Revolution – An Illustrated Snapshot of its History
Saturday, November 7, 2 p.m. Register here
 

Jacob Lawrence, Toussaint L’Ouverture series, no. 40: The Declaration of Independence was signed January 1, 1804—Desalines, Clevaux, and Henri Christoph. The people won out. 1938, tempera on paper. Amistad Research Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1982

Join Dr. Eric Jackson, associate professor and director of the Black Studies Program at Northern Kentucky University, for an in-depth look at the Haitian Revolution. This talk is co-presented by The Alliance Française of Cincinnati and the Taft Museum of Art.
 
At the outbreak of the French revolution in 1789, the colony of St. Domingue (Haiti) was France’s richest colony, the envy of every other European nation. The wealth of the colony was derived from a plantation system fueled by the African slave trade. Born out of conflict and resentment, slaves organized a slave rebellion in 1791 that resulted in twelve years of resistance to obtain human rights. The Haitian Revolution became the only successful slave revolt in history, and resulted in the establishment of Haiti, the first independent black state in the New World. This presentation seeks to examine this revolution as well as its legacy.

Free Members and Students, $10 Public
Reservations required: (513) 684-4515 or click above.


Artist Talk: Cedric Michael Cox
Saturday, November 14, 1:30 p.m.
Click here to register.

Visual artist Cedric Cox will respond to the work in the exhibition Heroism in Paint: A Master Series by Jacob Lawrence and share his work and inspirations. Cox is a graduate of University of Cincinnati’s DAAP program. His paintings and drawings, which fall between surrealism and representational abstraction, express themes ranging from mythical literature to musical allegories and beyond.
FREE Members and Students. $10 Public (includes museum admission)
Advance paid registration required: (513) 684-4515 or click the link above.

College Park, Maryland

University of Maryland University College (UMUC)

Arts Program Gallery

Panel Discussion: Delilah Pierce and Art
Sunday, November 8, 2015, 3–5 p.m.

College Park Marriott Hotel and Conference Center
Panel Discussion: Second Floor, Room 2210

Reception: UMUC Arts Program Gallery, Lower Level                         

The panel discussion, "Delilah Pierce and Art," will feature art historian Floyd Coleman, PhD; art collector and author Jerry Langley; Pierce's great-niece, Wanda Spence; and Galerie Myrtis owner Myrtis Bedolla.

RSVP 

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit Institute of Arts

30 AMERICANS CONFERENCE: New Attitudes: Varied Perspectives on Black Identity and Changing Artistic Expressions                    Friday, November 6, 2015, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. 

Admission fee required. Order tickets

Keynote Speaker: Touré, Journalist, culture critic and television host

Panel Moderators: Kirsten Pai Buick, Associate Professor of Art History, University of New Mexico; Jacqueline Francis, Associate Professor of Visual Studies, California College of the Arts; Michael D. Harris, Associate Professor of Art History and African American Studies, Emory University; Samantha Astrid Noel, Assistant Professor of Art History, Wayne State University

The DIA’s General Motors Center for African American Art presents a conference featuring journalist, culture critic and television host Touré as keynote speaker. Four panels of artists and scholars discuss issues relevant to contemporary African American artists’ perspectives on black identity and its changing artistic expression during the past 40 years.

                                           

Fort Worth, Texas

   Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

Lecture: Charles Gaines

Tuesday, October 27, 2015, 7 p.m.

Artist Charles Gaines shares ideas that have informed his long and influential career. The  lecture begins at 7 p.m. in the Museum’s auditorium. Seating begins at 6:30 p.m. and is limited to 250.

Lincoln, Nebraska

University of Nebraska Lincoln

Sheldon Museum of Art 

Lecture: Dr. Jane Rhodes  

Monday, October 26, 2015, 5:30 p.m.

Dr. Jane Rhodes, department head and professor of African American studies at the University of Illinois– Chicago, presents Visualizing Black Power: The Cultural Politics of a Social Movement in which she discusses the role of visual culture as a mobilizing and strategic tool of black power organizations and activists in the middle of the 20th century. Diverse and wide-ranging groups including the Nation of Islam, Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, Black Panther Party, and US government created symbols, iconography, and visual messages to further their social and political goals. These examples will be considered in the context of the 1960s culture of protest and the broader black freedom movement. A reception will follow.

Co-sponsored by the UNL Department of History and Institute for Ethnic Studies.

 

Gallery Talk on Emory Douglas                                                       Wednesday, October 28, 2015, 12:00 to 12:45 p.m.  

Stacy Asher and Aaron Sutherlen, co-curators of Emory Douglas: Power to the People, the Struggle Continues.

New York, New York
The Morgan Library and Museum

Tuesday, October 27, 2015, 6:30 p.m.

Artist Talk: A Conversation with Martin Puryear

In conjunction with the exhibition Martin Puryear: Multiple Dimensions, the artist discusses the role of drawing in his practice and the relationship of his works on paper to his sculptures with Isabelle Dervaux, Acquavella Curator of Modern & Contemporary Drawings, and Nadia Perucic, Assistant Curator of Modern & Contemporary Drawings. 

Tickets: $15; $10 for Members; free for students with valid ID

Order tickets

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Woodmere Art Museum

John W. Mosley: Cultural Warrior

 
Lecturer: Diane Turner, PhD, curator of the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection
Saturday, October 24, 3:00 p.m. $15 ($10 members)
 
Diane Turner will discuss photographer John W. Mosley’s role in deconstructing stereotypical images of black Americans in popular culture and the media through his documentation of the culture, history, and everyday life of Americans of African descent in the Philadelphia region.

Black Printmakers and the WPA

Lecturer: Leslie King-Hammond, PhD, Graduate Dean Emeritus and Founding Director, Center for Race and Culture, Maryland Institute College of Art
Monday, October 26, 11:00 a.m. $15 ($10 members)
 
The Works Projects Administration (WPA) provided opportunities for black artists to explore their creativity, gain access to new technology, and develop their artistic voices. Leslie King-Hammond will discuss the visual legacy of the WPA and printmaking pursuits by black artists in Philadelphia and other urban centers around the country.This lecture is presented as part of The Print Center 100

The Adored Maverick: Barbara Bullock

Lecturer: A. M. Weaver, independent curator and art journalist
Monday, November 9, 1:00 p.m. $15 ($10 members)
 
A. M. Weaver describes Barbara Bullock, an artist in the exhibition We
Speak: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s–1970s, as a maverick in post–World War II America. Bullock’s early work reflected her experiences as a black woman. Weaver will analyze the influence of Bullock’s travels throughout the African diaspora and the United States and the resulting shift in her work.

Panel Discussion: Breaking Barriers, Black Artists in Philadelphia

Saturday, January 23, 2016, 3:00 p.m. $15 ($10 members)
Participants: Paul Adkins, opera singer, teacher, and producer; Louis Massiah, founder and director of Scribe Video Center; Ursula Rucker, poet and performer; Kariamu Welsh, PhD, choreographer and professor at Boyer College of Music and Dance, Temple University; moderated by Warren Oree, director, Lifeline Music Coalition
 
Panelists will share stories about the challenges and journeys taken in pursuit of their art and will explore the role of Philadelphia’s cultural institutions in their careers.

Artist Talk: William Pope.L "Trinket"

"I like that objects in our culture—maybe because we have so many of them—take on qualities that maybe they don't possess. And the flag has this similar animism about it. We bestow it this inner life. So I'm trying to take that seriously."—William Pope.L

Select African American Art Exhibitions: Highlights for Fall/Winter 2015

This highlight features a few upcoming exhibitions that have recently opened or will be opening in the very near future. Presenting the exhibitions as they approach their opening dates or shortly after opening assures a freshness and currency of information for visual art enthusiasts. Although this is a selective list, it does show the depth and breadth of art being produced by American artists with African heritage. The aim has been to select exhibitions that show works reflecting inter-generational production by male and female artists from across the country and being exhibited in various types of venues.

A number of important exhibitions that opened earlier during the year, and are still being featured across the country, are accessible from the BAP Blog page entitled: Select Art Exhibitions in 2015. That page is updated on a weekly basis by either adding newly discovered exhibitions or removing those that are approaching their expiration date. Its intent is to provide comprehensive coverage of current ongoing exhibitions on view for the current year.

Black Art Project (BAP) welcomes any information or leads that you might have relating to Black art exhibitions, particularly regional exhibitions that are not traditionally marketed on a national scale. BAP will verify the accuracy of any information submitted. Thank you for any assistance that you provide. 

Ann Arbor, Michigan

University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA)

The Art of Tyree Guyton: A Thirty-Year Journey
 

Tyree Guyton, The New White House, a.k.a., the Dotty Wotty House, 2010. Heidelberg Project Archives

The Art of Tyree Guyton: A Thirty-Year Journey is on view through January 3, 2016 at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA). Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2016, the Heidelberg Project is one of the largest , best-known, and longest-running site-specific art installations in the country. Occupying more than two blocks along Heidelberg Street in Detroit's East side, the project has transformed its neighborhood, covering abandoned houses, the street, and the surrounding area with collections of found objects and vividly rendered paintings. 


The Heidelberg Project has been the life's work of artist Tyree Guyton.  He grew up on Heidelberg Street, and was encouraged by his house painter grandfather to choose art as an alternative to drugs and guns. Guyton began the project with his family, and with help of

neighborhood children, they gathered discarded objects, from toys and clothes to televisions and furniture. They painted abandoned houses on the street with bright house paints and attached objects to the exteriors, turning them into gigantic assemblage sculptures. 

Tyree Guyton, House of Soul, 2012-2013 (destroyed by fire in November 2013), Heidelberg Project Archives

The 30-year anniversary of the Heidelberg Project is a moment for Guyton, and his audience, to reflect on what his work has meant to the cultural life of Detroit and beyond. Guyton has created two new works specifically for this exhibition, one in the studio and one in the project. How Much for the City, a mixed-media sculpture, makes reference to his long-standing struggles with city government. On Heidelberg Street, he is building a full-scale house; it will rise on the foundation of a house destroyed by arson. The process of its construction can be viewed on the Heidelberg Television monitor in the gallery.

The Art of Tyree Guyton explores the artist's involvement with the project through the decades, and also feature a selection of prints and drawings from his more recent studio work. 

Lead support for this exhibition is provided by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and Lisa Applebaum. Additional generous support is provided by the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and School of Social Work. 

Programs: 
Friday, September 25, 2015, 5:30 - 7:30 PM 

UMMA Dialogue: A Thirty-Year Journey with Tyree Guyton and Jenenne Whitfield

Sunday, November 08, 2015, 3 - 4 PM 

In Conversation: The Art of Tyree Guyton: From the Street to the Studio

 
Saturday, November 14, 2015, 11 AM - 1 PM

Family Art Studio: The Art of Tyree Guyton

Saturday, November 14, 2015, 2 - 4 PM

Family Art Studio: The Art of Tyree Guyton

Atlanta, Georgia

Spelman College Museum of Fine Art 
Howardena Pindell

Howardena Pindell, Free, White and 21, 1980. Color video with sound,

12:15 minutes.

VIDEO: Courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York.

Spelman College Museum of Fine Art presents Howardena Pindell, a solo exhibition of the artist's intricately layered mixed-media paintings and works on paper. The exhibition, which will be on view through December 5, 2015, spotlights Pindell's dynamic works from 1974-1986 and explore how she blends her abstract formal sensibilities, personal memory and activism through the lens of life history.

Pindell is known for her oblong and unstretched canvases that are often
torn apart and stitched back together. Her detailed experimentation with hole-punched circles, hand-written numeration and personal postcards create atmospheric work that considers the relationship between chaos and logic, time and repetition, and force and movement. As a result, the painstaking compositions of her paintings reimagine the medium and its process. This exhibition celebrates a creative risk-taker, a seasoned traveler and an advocate for equality.

An influential figure in the art world for over 40 years, Pindell has remained committed to expanding opportunities for women artists of color. She has been fiercely devoted  to life and career, art, activism and advocacy. In the foreword to The Heart of the Question: The Writings of Howardena Pindell, she said, "I sustain myself through sheer tenacity, as the art world does not want artists of color to be full participants. I work because it's my life's work. I have no other choice."

Programs:
Thursday, September 24, 2015, 6:30 PM
An Evening with Howardena Pindell and Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell    
This is a landmark conversation between two pioneering  creative public intellectuals on visual art and the art world, autobiography and the creative process.

Saturday, September 26, 2015, 1 - 4 PM
Community Day
A fun-filled exploration of Howardena Pindell for participants of all ages that includes make-and-take workshops, interactive tours, giveaways from local cultural institutions and more.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015, 6:30 PM
Conversation with the Curators

Further Reading:
Howardena Pindell Exhibition Brochure 

Chicago, Illinois 
Hyde Park Art Center 
Jefferson Pinder: Onyx Odyssey

Jefferson Pinder, Assimilated, Neon, 2009

Jefferson Pinder: Onyx Odyssey will be on view at the Hyde Park Art Center from November 1, 2015 through January 24, 2016. The exhibition, Onyx Odyssey, may be viewed in Gallery 1 and the Jackman Goldwasser Catwalk Gallery. 
 
Interdisciplinary artist Jefferson Pinder will present a series of new

Jefferson Pinder, Overture, HD video, 2013

work in video and sculpture that extend his study in the tropes of black identity. Navigating the various definitions of the black male figure, from Ben Hur to W.E.B. DuBois to most recently, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Pinder asks what psychological or physical substance unites or determines the strength of a race. Inspired by soundtracks, Pinder also utilizes hypnotic popular music and surreal performances to underscore themes dealing with Afro-Futurism, physical endurance and blackness. 

Pinder is currently an Associate Professor in the Contemporary Practices Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been featured in numerous group shows including exhibitions at The Studio Museum in Harlem, the Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut, The High Museum in Atlanta, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Zacheta National Gallery in Warsaw, Poland. 

Clinton, New York
Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College
Karen Hampton: The Journey North  

Karen Hampton, Spirits Cry, 2000

Image transfer on hand-woven linen, Amoco non-woven geotextile thread, 

and indigo dye, 36¼" × 49 3/8"

Courtesy of the artist

The Wellin Museum of Art presents Karen Hampton: The Journey North; the exhibition will be on view October 3 through December 20, 2015. The Journey North features new and recent textile works that tie together stories of Hampton's multicultural heritage, from her family's colonial past to her present experiences as a person of African, Caribbean, and American descent. Los Angeles-based textile artist Karen Hampton applies a contemporary approach to examining the African-American diaspora in this exhibition that explores her personal and ancestral narrative. 

The Journey North is a multi-layered installation that showcases the aesthetic and conceptual richness of Hampton's textile works, which are interwoven with a myriad of genealogical references, and serve as a personal vehicle for instilling the experiences of those who came before her while charting and claiming Hampton's own unique place within that history.  

   Karen Hampton: The Journey North is organized around several narrative threads that, when woven together, culminate in a complex tapestry of Hampton's hopes and visions for African-American lives. A self-described griot, Hampton uses cloth as her medium to embed references to her genealogical discoveries through stitching, weaving, and digitally printing layered images, inscription of voices, and other historical markers. Employing embroidery and weaving, Hampton follows in the footsteps of African-American women quilters as she hand-stitches her family roots to illustrate their "journey north." She also incorporates modern techniques that include archival photo transfers and painting to embellish and invent a new style of narrative.
   

The exhibition follows Hampton's maternal and paternal lineage, tracing her family's history from Florida, a slave plantation in Maryland, and the Caribbean, to the artist's own story. The Journey North spans her family's encounters with such historical events as English and Spanish settlement in the 1700s, plantation life in the antebellum South, and the Civil War. As Hampton narrates the internal struggles that accompanied her ancestors' diaspora, she grapples with the mythology of freedom in America and examines the conflicting ideals inherent to our nation's founding documents. 

Karen Hampton: The Journey North is curated by Steven J. Goldberg, Associate Professor of Art History, Hamilton College, and Susanna White, Associate Director and Senior Curator of Collections, Wellin Museum of Art. The exhibition catalogue features essays by Steven J. Goldberg and independent curator, scholar and art critic Gylbert Coker, Ph.D.

Programs:

Wednesday, October 28, 2015, 4:15 - 5:15 PM

Curatorial Tour:

Tour of current exhibition of Karen Hampton: The Journey North

 

Wednesday, November 4, 2015, 4:15 - 5:30 PM

Artists in Conversation:

Renée Stout and Karen Hampton will discuss their creative process and artwork in the current exhibitions.  

NOTE:  Renée Stout: Tales of the Conjure Woman is also on view at the Wellin Museum of Art, October 03 through December 20, 2015. 
Tales of the Conjure Woman is a collaborative project between the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston, Spelman College Museum of Fine Arts in Atlanta, and the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art.

Los Angeles, California

California African American Museum (CAAM)

Hard Edged: Geometrical Abstraction and Beyond 

Holly Tempo, Heat Wave This Is for Real, 2012, Acrylic, spray paint and aluminum leaf on canvas.
Courtesy of the artist.

Hard Edged: Geometrical Abstraction and Beyond explores the evolving practice of geometrical abstraction in contemporary art. illustrating the rich interplay of tradition, innovation, and individual talent among forty-six visual artists of African descent. The exhibition, which will be on view at CAAM through April 24, 2016, offers an expansive and exploratory appreciation of geometrical abstraction not only in painting, but also in assemblage, installation, photography, video, quilting, and mixed-media works. Features common to many works include the prominent use of lines and sharply edged shapes, a sense of composition, unity of form, intense contrasts, and flat fields of color. 

 
The approaches of the artists in Hard Edged are very different, from perceptual to conceptual, from formal to boundary crossing. Some are minimalistic while others celebrate color and texture exuberantly. Although working at various levels of abstraction, the artists in this exhibition address such important issues as feminism, identity, colonialism, stereotypes, family relations, and social justice.  

Devin Troy Strother, Negrophelia, 2011, Mixed media on paper. Courtesy of artist and Richard Heller Gallery.

Hard Edged: Geometrical Abstraction and Beyond draws widely from local sources, including CAAM's  permanent collection, private collectors, galleries, and the artists themselves, and it includes Chelle Barbour, Sharon Louise Barnes, April Bey, Joseph Beckles, Ronda Brown, Mark Broyard, Lavialle Campbell, Elizabeth Catlett, Castillo, Edward Clark, Charles Dickson, June Edmonds, Melvin Edwards, Kathie Foley-Meyer, Bre Gipson, David Hammons, Hillary Jaynes, Daniel LaRue Johnson, Rashid Johnson, Samuel Levi Jones, Doyle Lane, Jacob Lawrence, Isabelle Lutterodt, Enoch Mack, Eric Mack, Senga Nengudi, Nzuji de Magalhães, Kori Newkirk, Duane Paul, Doug Pearsall, Karl J-G Petion, Greg Pitts, Noah Purifoy, Charla Puryear, Miles Regis, John T. Riddle Jr., Michelle Robinson, Charles Rosenberg, Lisa C Soto, Devin Troy Strother, Holly Tempo, Matthew Thomas, Richard Turner, Tim Washington, Lisa Diane Wedgeworth, and Brenna Youngblood.

June Edmonds, This is Common, 2015, Oil on canvas. Courtesy of artist.

Programs:
Saturday, September 26, 2015, 1-3 PM
Sculpture-making Workshop with Charla Puryear. Participants create their own glass and wire-hanging artworks.

Saturday, October 17, 2015, 1-3 PM
Marble Tagging Workshop with April Bey. Write your own messages on marbled paper that you will create with the Suminagashi technique of water printing/paper marbling.

Saturday, November 21, 2015, 1-3 PM
Yarn-Painting Workshop with Nzuji de Magalhães.

Saturday, January 30, 2016, 1-3 PM
Abstraction Today: A Conversation. Several of the artists featured in Hard Edged discuss their work with curator Mar Hollingsworth.
 

New York, New York 

The Drawing Center 

Rashid Johnson: Anxious Man 

Rashid Johnson, Untitled Anxious Men, 2015. White ceramic tile, black soap, wax, 
47½" x 34½" x 2", © Rashid Johnson, Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. 
Photo by Martin Parsekian. 

The Drawing Center will present Rashid Johnson: Anxious Men,  a site-specific installation created by Johnson for the Drawing Room  gallery. Anxious Men will be on view October 2 through December 20, 2015. The core of the exhibition is a new series of black-soap-and-wax-on-tile portraits that Johnson calls his anxious men. Executed by digging into a waxy surface, they enact a kind of drawing through erasure and represent the first time Johnson has worked figuratively outside of photography or film, and on such a small scale. Whereas Johnson's previous work has taken a more cerebral approach to questions of race and political identity, the drawn portraits confront
the viewer with a visceral immediacy.

The portraits will be set within a multi-sensory environment that

Rashid Johnson, Untitled Anxious Men, 2015. White ceramic tile, 
black soap, wax, 47½" x 34½" x 2", © Rashid Johnson,
  Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. 
Photo by Martin Parsekian. 

includes wallpaper depicting a photograph of the artist's father from the year Johnson was born, and an audio sound track comprised of Melvin Van Peebles' Love, That's America, a song originally featured in Peebles' 1970 film Watermelon Man and that was recently pressed into service by  the Occupy Wall Street movement. In this way, the exhibition will create an immersive space that implicates not only the artist, but also the viewer in its interrogation of self-hood and identity. 

Johnson's work is wide-ranging and has been discussed within the context of contemporary painting, photography, sculpture, video, installation, and even performance. Now, with Anxious Men, drawing enters the list.       

An edition of the Drawing Papers series will be published in conjunction with this exhibition. 

Lead support for Rashid Johnson: Anxious Men is provided by Joseph G. Mizzi. Additional support is provided by Jeffrey A. Hirsch, John and Amy Phelan, Erica Samuels, and Melva Bucksbaum and Raymond Learsy. Special thanks to Hauser and Wirth.

Program: 
Thursday, October 15, 2015, 6:30 PM
Join the artist and Claire Gilman, Senior Curator at the Drawing Center and curator of Rashid Johnson: Anxious Men, for a walk through of the exhibition.  

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) 

Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis

Norman Lewis, Fantasy, 1936, Oil and ink on canvas, 31½"x 40";
framed 32½" x 40¾". Courtesy of Leslie Lewis and Christina Lewis Halpern
from the Reginald F. Lewis Family Collection. ©Estate of Norman W. Lewis; Courtesy
of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

The  Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) presents Procession: The Art of  Norman Lewis, the first comprehensive museum retrospective of Lewis' work since his death. Procession, consisting of 90 paintings and works on paper from the early 1930s through the late 1970s, as well as Lewis' handmade dolls and other archival material, will be on view November 13, 2015 through April 3, 2016. Procession will be on view in the Fisher Brooks Gallery, Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building. In honor of Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis, PAFA is offering free admission to the entire museum every Sunday for the duration of the exhibition. 

As a participant in the New York City art scene in both Harlem and downtown, Lewis was an influential contributor to Abstract Expressionism, a member of the prestigious Willard Gallery from 1946 to the mid-1960s, and a politically conscious activist throughout his life. Racism prevented him from fully participating in the social and networking aspects of gallery life, and caused his work to remain, even today, less well-known than that of his white contemporaries such as Willem de Kooning and Ad Reinhardt.      

  Norman Lewis, Carnivale del Sol, 1962. Oil on canvas,  50"x 64", Stephen Meringoff.   Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY           

The procession in the exhibition's title highlights a prominent thread that runs through much of Lewis' work: the procession ritual. Procession could be both celebratory and terrifying for Lewis, equally carrying allusions to carnevale and Ku Klux Klan marches. Such duality was at the heart of his artistic practice which employed representation and abstraction; geometric and organic forms; somber calligraphic markings and brilliant fields of color. 

Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis will consider the complexity of Lewis' art by examining the role of figuration within Abstraction Expressionism and how Lewis subtly referenced social issues within an essentially abstract mode. The exhibition also will highlight the richly expressive palette the artist championed throughout his career.

Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue.

The major exhibition sponsors are the National Endowment for the Arts and Christie’s. Additional support from AG Foundation, L. Ann and Jonathan P. Binstock, Ed Bradley Family Foundation, Jacqueline Bradley and Clarence Otis Jr., Dr. Aliya and Reginald Browne, Valentino D. Carlotti, Christina Lewis Halpern and Loida Nicolas Lewis, Charles and Kathy Harper, Robert Horwitz and Catherine Redlich, Dorothy Lichtenstein, The Lomax Family Foundation, Winston and Carolyn Lowe, Raymond J. McGuire and Crystal McCrary, Frank and Katherine Martucci, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, and the Terra Foundation for American Art on behalf of board members Ruth Fine and Charles Harper.

Programs:
Saturday, November 14, 2015, 11:00 AM
Friends and Family Brunch: Join PAFA with a special friends and family brunch as a part of opening weekend celebration for Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis. 

Sunday, November 15, 2015, 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Trolley Tour: Join PAFA as they partner with the Mural Arts Program for a unique and moving museum and tour experience. Take a Mural arts trolley tour of the Albert M. Greenfield African American Iconic Images Collection, then view Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis.  

Saturday, December 5, 2015, 11 AM - 3 PM
Observe and Create:The Abstract Ideal: After viewing and exploring Lewis' artworks, participants will have an opportunity to create their 
own work of art.

Traveling Lecture Series: 
The Traveling Lecture Series, offered in conjunction with ongoing exhibitions, brings museum staff members out to your institution to give a talk about an artist or art movement important to our mission. This program is free to the public.

To view an even wider inclusion of exhibitions across the country: SEE 
Exhibitions 2015.