Museums across the United States are currently showcasing over 150 years of African American art. The exhibitions, held in conjunction with Black History Month, cover a wide range of themes, providing a comprehensive look at Black artistic expression. From Sacramento, Calif., to Cincinnati, Ohio, Charlotte, N.C., and New York City, the exhibitions are shining a spotlight on the work of women artists, African and Black American artists active in the modern era, 19th century potters, and art from the collections of historically Black colleges and universities. (Exhibitions are listed in chronological order by opening date):
RACHEL JONES, “SMIIILLLLEEEE,” 2021 (oil pastel, oil stick on canvas, 160 x 250 cm). | Green Family Foundation, Courtesy Adam Green Art Advisory. © Rachel Jones, Courtesy the artist and Thaddeus Ropac. Photo by Chad Redmon
A Superlative Palette: Contemporary Black Women Artists @ Harvey B. Gantt Center, Charlotte N.C. | Jan. 26-July 28, 2024
Curated by Dexter Wimberly, “A Superlative Palette” showcases works by 12 “generation-defining” women artists: Nina Chanel Abney, ruby onyinyechi amanze, Lauren Halsey, Rachel Jones, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Jennifer Packer, Calida Rawles, Deborah Roberts, Tschabalala Self, Amy Sherald, Mickalene Thomas, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. Most of these living artists are painters with unique approaches to figuration. The exhibition also features artists specializing in drawing, abstraction, sculptures, and installations that celebrate and promote Black businesses.
From left: LOUISIANA BENDOLPH, Detail of “Housetop variation with half squares blocks,” (quilt: plain weave cotton broadcloth patch with printed cotton lining and polyester batting). | © Louisiana Bendolph. Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Gift of Souls Grown Deep Foundation; BILLY ZANGEWA, “The Dreamer,” 2016 (silk tapestry). | © Billy Zangewa. Spelman College Museum of Fine Art purchase with support from the Friends of the Museum in celebration of the Museum’s 20th Anniversary
Threaded: Textile Works by Contemporary Black Women Artists @ Spelman Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, Ga. | Feb. 2-May 24, 2024
“Threaded” presents seven Gee’s Bend quilts from Spelman’s collection that have recently been restored, along with a Gee’s Bend quilt from the collection of Clark Atlanta University, and works by a new generation of textile artists who work in various formats, including quilting. Artists featured in the exhibition include Louisiana Bendolph, Mary Lee Bendolph, Polly Bennett, Willie Ann Benning, Bisa Butler, Helen McBride Richter, Flora Moore, Ruth Pettway Mosely, Ebony G. Patterson, Loretta Pettway, Bettie Bendolph Seltzer, Phyllis Stephens, Sonie Joi Thompson-Ruffin, Qualeasha Wood, and Billie Zangewa. The exhibition is curated by Spelman College Museum of Fine Art Director Liz Andrews and Karen Comer Lowe with Brandy Pettijohn.
DAVID CLYDE DRISKELL (AMERICAN, 1931–2020), “Woman with Flowers,” 1972 (oil and collage on canvas, 37 1/2 x 38 1/2 inches. | ArtBridges, © The Estate of David C. Driskell
Black Artists in America: From Civil Rights to Bicentenial @ Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, Calif. | Feb. 4-May 19, 2024
The Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, Calif. is hosting “Black Artists in America: From Civil Rights to Bicentennial” from Feb. 4 to May 19, 2024. The exhibition showcases the works of artists who gained prominence in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, reflecting the social, political, and cultural climate of the times. The featured artists include Emma Amos, Romare Bearden, Ed Clark, Beauford Delaney, David C. Driskell, Norman Lewis, Howardena Pindell, Alma Thomas, Charles White, Kenneth Victor Young, and members of AfriCOBRA. The exhibition, organized by Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tenn., is curated by Earnestine Jenkins and is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog.
Publicity still, “The Flame of Paris” (1938, re-release of “Princess Tam-Tam, France,” 1935). | Photographer unidentified. Toddy Pictures Company. Reproduction from original negative. Toddy Pictures Company Photographs. Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971 @ Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Mich. | Feb. 4-June 23, 2024
A fascinating exhibition titled “Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971” is taking place at the Detroit Institute of Arts from Feb. 4 to June 23, 2024. The exhibition features the 1923 silent film “Regeneration,” shot in Jacksonville, Fla., with a white director, all-Black cast, and a romantic narrative set in the south seas. The exhibition celebrates seven decades of cinema history and explores the legacy of African American filmmakers and actors through objects and contemporary art. It includes an extensive collection of photographs and ephemera, film excerpts, fully restored rare films, as well as works by contemporary artists such as Theaster Gates, Glenn Ligon, Gary Simmons, and Kara Walker. The exhibition is organized by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles and is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog.
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ROMARE BEARDEN (1911–1988), “Late Afternoon,” 1971 (collage and mixed media on board, 14 1/2 x 18 3/4 inches). | Museum purchase, Funds provided by The William Lightfoot Schultz Foundation, 1979.6
Century: 100 Years of Black Art at MAM @ Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, N.J. | Feb. 9-July 7, 2024
Montclair Art Museum has been obtaining works by Black artists since the 1940s. This exceptional exhibition represents the museum’s advancement, presenting 70 collection works created by 59 artists, significant historic figures and important contemporary talents working in various mediums, over the past century. The show is structured around six themes: Black Portraiture, African Diasporic Consciousness, Archival Memory, Abstraction, Black Mythologies, and Black Joy and Leisure. Adrienne L. Childs and nico w. okoro curated the exhibition, which will be accompanied by a new catalog.
IBRAHIM EL-SALAHI (born 1930), “Vision of the Tomb,” 1965 (oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches). | Collection of The Africa Center, New York, 2008.2.1. Photo by Jerry L. Thompson © Ibrahim El-Salahi, All rights reserved, ARS, NY 2022, Courtesy Vigo Gallery and American Federation of Arts
African Modernism in America, 1947-67 @ Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio. | Feb. 10-May 19, 2024
This traveling exhibition examines the complex “relationships between modern African artists and American patrons, artists, and cultural organizations amid the tumultuous interlocking histories of the civil rights movement in the United States, the decolonization of Africa, and the global Cold War.” More than 70 works by about 50 African and Black American artists are featured, including John Biggers, Peter Clarke, David C. Driskell, Aaron Douglas, Ibrahim El-Salahi, Ben Enwonwu, Yusuf Grillo, William H. Johnson, Akinọla Laṣekan, Jacob Lawrence, Malangatana Valente Ngwenya, Suzanna Ogunjami, and Uche Okeke. Co-organized by the American Federation of Arts and Fisk University Galleries, the exhibition is co-curated by Jamaal Sheats, Fisk University professor and director and curator at the Fisk University Galleries, with Perrin Lathrop and Nikoo Paydar. Many of the works on view are drawn from the Nashville HBCU’s collection of gifts from the Harmon Foundation. A fully illustrated catalog documents the exhibition.
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From left, _MAKER(S) once known, likely enslaved at Phoenix Stone Ware Factory (circa 1840), and attributed to THOMAS W. CHANDLER JR. (American, 1810–1854), Watercooler, circa 1840 (alkaline-glazed stoneware with iron and kaolin slip, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchase in honor of Audrey Shilt, President of the Members Guild, 1996–1997, with funds from the Decorative Arts Acquisition Endowment and Decorative Arts Acquisition Trust, 1996.132. Photo by Michael McKelvey; DAVE (later recorded as DAVID DRAKE) (American, ca. 1801-1870s), enslaved at Stony Bluff Manufactory (ca. 1848–1867), Storage Jar, 1857 (alkaline-glazed stoneware). | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Harriet Otis Cruft Fund and Otis Norcross Fund, 1997.10. Photo © 2022 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina @ High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Ga. | Feb. 16-May 12, 2024
In the decades before the Civil War, Old Edgefield, S.C., was a center of stoneware production. This traveling exhibition brings to light the talent, work, and creativity of Black artists—free and enslaved—whose contributions are critical to the storied history of the pottery district. About 50 ceramic jugs, storage pots, and face vessels by unknown makers and celebrated potter and poet David Drake (circa 1800-circa 1870s) are featured alongside a selection of works by contemporary artists including Simone Leigh, Theaster Gates, Woody De Othello, and Robert Pruitt, whose practices have drawn inspiration from their historic counterparts. A fully illustrated catalog documents the show.
DEREK FORDJOUR, “Airborne Double,” 2022 (acrylic, charcoal, cardboard, oil pastel, and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas). | © David Forjour. Frances Fine Art Collection, Courtesy the artist, David Kordansky Gallery, and Petzel Gallery, New York. Photo by Daniel Greer
Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage @ Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in Houston, Texas. | Feb. 18-May 12, 2024
Bringing together a broad array of collage and collage-style works, “Multiplicity” considers the complexity of Black identity and the expansive nature of the Black experience. More than 80 works by 52 living artists are on view. The group includes Mark Bradford, Lauren Halsey, Rashid Johnson, Kerry James Marshall, Wangechi Mutu, Jamea Richmond-Edwards, Deborah Roberts, Tschabalala Self, Lorna Simpson, Devan Shimoyama, and Mickalene Thomas, as well as Tay Butler, Jamal Cyrus, Rick Lowe, and Lovie Olivia, notable artists connected to Houston.
`Silver Linings: Celebrating the Spelman Art Collection` is an ongoing exhibition at the Boise Art Museum in Idaho, running from February 24 to July 21, 2024. The collection features approximately 40 pieces from the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, representing a range of mediums and styles. The works span from the early 20th century to the present day and include pieces by artists such as Romare Bearden, Benny Andrews, Howardena Pindell, and Lorna Simpson.
Another noteworthy exhibition is `The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism` at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This exhibit, open from February 25 to July 28, 2024, explores the portrayal of modern life by African American artists who settled in Harlem and other “new Black cities” during the 1920s-40s. It comprises about 160 paintings, sculptures, and drawings by artists such as Charles Alston, Aaron Douglas, Meta Warrick Fuller, and Palmer Hayden. Notably, a significant portion of the featured works are from the collections of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
In addition to these exhibitions, there are several accompanying publications available, including catalogs that explore Black artists in collage, the legacy of Black filmmakers and actors from the early days of cinema, and the works of modern artists from the mid-20th century.
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