Select African American Art Exhibitions: Highlights for 2013

This highlight features a few exhibitions that are either currently on view or will be opening in the 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. A number of important traveling exhibitions that opened earlier in the year are still being featured across the country and are accessible from the Blog page entitled: Select Art Exhibitions in 2013. This 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 quarter of the 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.

Boston, Massachusetts

Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Loïs Mailou Jones, La Baker (detail), 1977, Acrylic and collage on canvas. Gift of the Lois Mailou Jones Pierre-Noel Trust.

Loïs Mailou Jones presents 30 paintings and drawings by the distinguished, internationally acclaimed graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. "This exhibition presents works from every stage of Jones’s artistic career, beginning with her early copies after objects in the Museum’s collections, her teaching career at Howard University, and the travels that shaped her distinctive vision and contributions to American art." 

The exhibition, Loïs Mailou Jones, will be on view through October 14, 2013 in the Bernard and Barbara Stern Shapiro Gallery (Gallery 231) at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Read more at Boston's NPR news station.

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Hunter Museum of American Art 

 

Whitfield Lovell,

Kin LII (Pie in the Sky), 2008, Conte on paper, plaster sculpture with base,

Courtesy of the artist and DC Moore Gallery, New York

Whitfield Lovell: Deep River was organized by the Hunter Museum of American Art. The highlight of Deep River is a large, site-specific installation that Lovell specifically created for the Hunter that explores the history of Camp Contraband, which was located just across the river from the Hunter Museum. Contraband camps became the foundation for postwar African American neighborhoods, facilitating the process that produced rapid urbanization of former slaves, most of whom had lived in rural areas. 

Whitfield Lovell, Pago Pago,

2008, conte crayon on wood with radios 

and sound, 97 x 66 x 13 inches, 

Courtesy of the artist and 

DC Moore Gallery, New York

"The Hunter Museum exhibition features artwork created since 2008, including the artist's signature tableaux that are constructed of intricate charcoal drawings on vintage wood juxtaposed with found objects. Lovell prefers to leave the history of his salvaged wood intact, never removing the layers of age paint, adding only his Conté crayon drawings and the objects he has collected over the years."

Also included in the exhibition are a number of mixed media drawings from Lovell's ongoing Kin series. Each of the Kin works features a portrait along with a single object; see image of Pie in the Sky (Kin LII) above, center.

Deep River will be on view through October 13, 2013.

Greensboro, North Carolina

University of North Carolina Greensboro

Weatherspoon Art Museum

Willie Cole, Shoe Bouquet, 2009, Shoes, wood, and wire, 65" x 56" x 61".
  Courtesy of Alexander & Bonin Gallery. Photo: Jason Mandella.

Complex Conversations: Willie Cole Sculptures and Wall Works will be on view in the Bob and Lissa Shelley McDowell Gallery, The Weatherspoon Art Museum at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, September 14 - December 15, 2013. This exhibition covers more than thirty years of the artist's work, including three-dimensional sculpture to drawing and printmaking.

The exhibition establishes thematic consistencies and intense interactions of Cole’s art and its focus on key consumer objects like hairdryers, high heel shoes, and, above all, the steam iron, transforming these everyday mass-produced objects into precious icons or symbolic representations that explore ideas of diversity, identity, and commercialization.

In the words of Patterson Sims (Western Michigan University), Curator of Complex Conversations, "Willie Cole grew up in post-industrial Newark, N.J., and sees himself as an urban archaeologist." Inner-city African-American life and family have been the underpinnings of Cole’s work. He has lived most of his life in or near Newark, NJ, a city fraught with racial tensions and violence in the late 1960s.

Read more about Willie Cole.

An Artist Talk will be held on Friday, September 27, 2013 at 5:30 pm. Seating for this event is limited; up to two seats may be reserved beginning August 19. Details: Event Calendar. Reception follows. Free.

Houston, Texas
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

LaToya Ruby Frazier, Momme, 2008. Gelatin silver print. 20 x 24 inches. Courtesy the
artist and Galerie Michel Rein, Paris.

LaToya Ruby Frazier: WITNESS will be on view in the Zilkha Gallery at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston through October 13, 2013. The exhibition features photographs, videos, digital works, and a recent photolithograph series that speak to the economic issues surrounding her hometown of Braddock, Pennsylvania as it struggled to weather the country's shift from a manufacturing economy (steel plants) to an information economy. Frazier documents   "Braddock's deterioration with an unflinching eye and a gift for communicating through documentary images that connects her to other socially engaged practitioners like American photographers Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and Gordon Parks." 

As Frazier sees it, her work is "the story of economic globalization and the decline of manufacturing as told through the bodies of three generations of African American women." The primary players in this story are Frazier's Grandma Ruby (1925-2009), her Mom (1959-) and the artist herself (1982-). This exhibition includes a selection of more than 20 black-and-white photographs from the artist's renowned Notion of Family series.To learn more about the back story of what drives and motivates Frazier to action as an artist and activist read Contemporary Arts Museum. 

The exhibition, LaToya Ruby Frazier: WITNESS, is accompanied by a bound, illustrated catalogue.

Knoxville, Tennessee

Knoxville Museum of Art

    Thornton Dial, Lady Holds the Long Neck Bird, 1991, Watercolor, 29 5/8 x 22".                                                  Ackland Art Museum, Gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation, 2011.                                                               

Thornton Dial: Thoughts on Paper is on view at the Knoxville Museum of Art through August 25, 2013. Although Thornton Dial is widely recognized for his large-scale, multimedia assemblages, his most abundant body of work is his drawings, which he began producing in the early 1990s. This exhibition of Dial's drawings from 1990-1991, represent a pivotal moment in his artistic career
and reflects his characteristic and broadly coherent iconography of women, fish, birds, roosters, and tigers, rendered in a variety of media. Thornton Dial: Thoughts on Paper "offers a fresh look at the artist’s achievements as seen through the medium of drawing and provide a touchstone of Dial’s creative process."
 
A publication which offers the first sustained critical attention to Dial’s works on paper accompanies this exhibition.

Thornton Dial: Thoughts on Paper was organized and circulated by the Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

For additional exhibitions featured across the country see: Select Art Exhibitions in 2013.

Select Art Exhibitions During Black History Month

Brentwood, Maryland

Gateway Arts Center

The Brentwood Arts Exchange and the Prince George's African American Museum and Cultural Center present Resonant Forms: Alonzo Davis, Martha Jackson-Jarvis, Frank Smith. The exhibition, Resonant Forms, will be on view at the Gateway Arts Center (1st floor, 3901 Rhode Island Avenue) until April 9, 2011.

Resonant Forms "is intensely visually rich. Its works frame a spectrum of artistic modes that range between expressing through pure color and speaking directly through the conceptual weight of material. Both means are important in each artist's work, while each artist approaches them in different ways."

There is an Opening Reception on Friday, February 11, 2011 from 5 - 8 pm. In addition there are a series of related programs:

• Artist Talk with Alonzo Davis, Martha Jackson-Jarvis and Frank Smith Saturday, February 12, 2011, 2 - 4 pm
• Message in the Bottle: A Discussion with Martha Jackson-Jarvis and A.M. Weaver, Saturday, March 19, 2011, 2 - 4 pm
• Alonzo Davis and The Bamboo Muse, a book of Davis’ artwork paired with the poetry and prose of twelve writers inspired by his work, Saturday, April 2, 2011, 2 - 4 pm

Chicago, Illinois

G. R. N'Namdi Gallery

Charles White, Jubilee, Oil on Board,
39" x 31½"

Charles White: The Shaping of Black America will be on view at the G. R. N'Namdi Gallery until  March 5, 2011. This exhibition consists of twelve pieces originally commissioned and acquired by the Johnson Publication Company in 1974 that tell the story of enslavement to liberation. To read more and view additional images of works from the exhibition, see: N'Namdi Gallery.

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

Willie Cole, Pressed Iron Blossom No. 3,
2005, Lithograph on two sheets
of Somerset paper, 35⅞" x 47¾"

Deep Impression: Willie Cole Works on Paper is on view February 12 - May 8, 2011 at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

This exhibition of over 30 prints, drawings, and photographs by Willie Cole encompasses works from 1979 to 2010. "Although best known as a sculptor, ...Cole has created a series of works on paper that incorporate his characteristic subjects: ironing boards, hairdryers, and shoes, among other manufactured products. He manipulates and reproduces these objects, imbuing them with several levels of meaning that address personal as well as economic, racial, and political issues. For example, he uses irons—some of which he found and some that were given to him by his grandmother, who was a domestic worker—to scorch patterns into paper." Read more at Brooks.

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is located at 1934 Poplar Avenue; phone: 901/ 544-6200.

New York, New York 

D C Moore Gallery

D C Moore Gallery presents Romare Bearden: Idea to Realization as one of its inaugural shows at the gallery's new location at 535 West 22nd Street. Romare Bearden is on view through March 12, 2011. An illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition.

"This focused show features a rare and vibrant group of original artworks that blend paint, photographic images, and abstracted cut-paper elements. Created as maquettes for murals, mosaics, book jackets, and other projects, most of them are being exhibited for the first time." For additional information, see Bearden. View other images at the gallery. 


Romare Bearden, Bessie, Duke, and Louis, c. 1981,
Collage on fiberboard, 12 ¼" x 43", D C Moore Gallery



Sacramento, California

Evolve the Gallery

Kamal Mansour, Hammerin' Hank,
Digital, fabric, found objects,
mixed media collage on canvas,
44" x 44"

Evolve the Gallery, in collaboration with the California Legislative Black Caucus, presents Made in America: An African-American Fine Art Perspective on February 10 -26, 2011. Evolve the Gallery is located at 2907 35th Street, Historic Oak Park.

The exhibition will include over 30 artists from across the country, including Richard Mayhew, Charles Bibbs, Gilbert Young, Kevin O'Keith, Charly Palmer, Alonzo Adams, Cindy Cephus, Kamal Mansour, Kelvin Curry, Kevin Cole, Marcella Muhammad, Milton Bowens, Rosalind McGary, Tamara Natalie Madden, Warren Goodson, and others.

Related Programs: 

• Art Premiere and Artist Reception, Thursday, February 10, 2011, 6 - 9 pm
• Opening Reception, Saturday, February 12, 2011, 6 - 9 pm
• Art Talk and Discussion will be held at The Guild Theater, 2828 35th Street, Historic Oak Park, Tuesday, February 15, 2011, 6 - 8 pm. This program will be moderated by Milton 510 Bowens and will include the following speakers: Senator Curren D. Price, Jr., Assemblyman Mike Davis, Bryan Keith Thomas, Akinsanya Kambon, and Elaine O'Brien.

For contact and more information, see Evolve the Gallery.

Sacramento, California

40 Acres Art Gallery

Milton 510 Bowens, American as Sweet Potato Pie,
Mixed media on canvas, 40" x 40", (Studio shot)



Milton 510 Bowens presents The Encyclopedia Blacktannica: A Contemporary Art Anthology of the African American Experience at the 40 Acres Art Gallery from February 10 - April 9, 2011. The Encyclopedia Blacktannica, consisting of a collection of 105 contemporary fine art paintings, navigates the interior landscape of the African American culture. "Bowens with his unique brand of Abstract Pop influenced mixed media paintings envelop the viewer as witness, participant, and long lost relative. This exhibition conjures reflections on history, family, struggle, perseverance and cultural pride."

Related Programs:

• Special Preview / Reception: Thursday, February 10, 2011, 5 - 9 pm  
•  Opening Reception: Saturday, February 12, 2011, 5 - 9 pm
• Black Face: An Art Talk with Milton 510 Bowens (The artist will be discussing the value of controlling our cultural image): Saturday, February 19, 2011, 3 - 6 pm
• Portrait of Post Racial America (panel discussion focused on the state of race relations in America today): Saturday, February 26, 2011, 3 - 6 pm

40 Acres Art Gallery is located at 3434 Broadway, Sacramento, California. For more information contact: Gail Williams, 510/ 417-1500, (gwilliams1918@comcast.net) or Michael Craft, 916/ 670-2932, (michael@aegbiz.com).   

Savannah, Georgia

The King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation 

Rik Freeman, Moses Train, 2008,
Oil on canvas, 60 " x 72"

The King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation  presents an exhibition, Rik Freeman: The Chittlin Circuit Review on view February 6 - May 28, 2011. This series of paintings that the artist began in 1994 is based on the origin and roots of Blues music. The exhibit will feature 20 or more oil on canvas works. The underlying objective of the works is "to portray the reality of circumstances that birthed the musical genre, including but not limited to socio-political and cultural aspects of the African American lifestyle in the Deep South...."

The Chittlin Circuit Review represents a collaboration between the King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation and the Savannah Black Heritage Festival. The Opening Reception and Artist Talk are scheduled for Sunday, February 6, 2011, 3 - 5 pm at The Beach Institute which is located at 502 East Harris Street; phone: 912/ 234-8000. Follow this link to read more about the exhibition.

Sterling, Virginia

The Waddell Art Gallery

The Waddell Art Gallery, on the Loudoun Campus of Northern Virginia Community College, presents Claudia Gibson Hunter's Suspicious Activities from February 21 - March 25, 2011.

Claudia Gibson-Hunter,
Code Red: Insurgent,  2008,
Bleach, colored pencil, acrylics,
30" x 22"

Suspicious Activities is a series of over 40 works produced during the Bush administration that  explores the contradictions of terrorism, occupation, and war during that administration. According to Gibson-Hunter, "The damage language can induce not only to the originator of the speech, but to the speaker, the subject of the words and the society the words are spoken in is the subject of these pieces. Bone, muscles, blood sweat, tears, hearts and even souls, are rendered exempt null, void, through words spoken or left unsaid, by the military, the journalist, the scholar and the everyday American citizen."

The Waddell Gallery is located on the 1st floor of the Waddell Building, 1000 Harry Flood Byrd Highway. For additional information, contact: Don Depuydt, 703/ 450-2627.

Washington, DC

The Charles Sumner School, Museum and Archives

Black Artists of DC present The Black Exhibition at The Charles Sumner School, Museum and Archives through March 31, 2011. The Black Exhibition includes the following artists: Cedric Baker, Anne Bouie, James Brown, Jr., T. H. Gomillion, Bruce McNeil, Daniel T. Brooking, Adjoa J. Burrowes, Carlton Wilkinson, Michael B. Platt, Amber Robles-Gordon, John Earl Cooper, Alec Simpson, Kristen Hayes, Gloria C. Kirk, Carol A. Beane, Claudia "Aziza" Gibson-Hunter, Willard G. Taylor, Viola Burley Leak, and Jacqueline Lee.

Opening Reception: Thursday, February 10, 2011, 6:30 - 8:30 pm. The Charles Sumner School, Museum and Archives is located at 1201 17th Street, NW.

Washington, DC
International Visions - The Gallery



International Visions - The Gallery presents its Annual Small Works Show from February 10 - March 12, 2011. Thirty-eight artists will be featured including David C. Driskell, Wadsworth Jarrell, April Harrison, Annie Bouie, Kevin Cole, Tim Davis, Verna Hart, Helen Zughaib, Betty Press, Sam Gilliam, James Phillips, and others. For a full list of artists and additional information, visit: International Visions Gallery.

Reception: Saturday, February 12, 2011, 6:30 - 9:00 pm. International Visions Gallery is located at 2629 Connecticut Avenue, NW.