 |
Mickalene
Thomas, Les Trois Femmes Noires, 2006, C-print, Edition 1/5, 47.5 x 56.75
inches. Image via billhodgesgallery.com.
|
November 20, 2014 – January 10, 2015
529 West
20th Street, 2E
New York,
NY
From Bill
Hodges Gallery press release:
Bill Hodges
Gallery is pleased to present History,
which features the work of several historic and contemporary artists on a
medium that is arguably the most significant to the history of art.
History showcases works on paper and imparts a
testament to the medium. Photographs, drawings, lithographs, serigraphs, and
etchings by renowned artists Mickalene Thomas, Kehinde Wiley, Lyle Ashton
Harris, Carrie Mae Weems, Romare Bearden, Norman Lewis, Jacob Lawrence, Chester
Higgins, and Roy DeCarava comprise the variety of mediums and artists
exhibited.
Mickalene
Thomas brings contemporary photographic style to the exhibition like none
other. Le Trois Femmes Noires
portrays the elegance of ebony skin through form, expression, and the
juxtaposition of pattern. Also on view is a drawing by painter Kehinde Wiley,
which served as a study for his work Passing
Posing (The Martyrdom of St. Symphorian). Wiley’s work often plays on the
statuesque figures depicted in classical painting. For this work,
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’ The Martyrdom
of St. Symphorian provides the foundation in which Wiley expounds upon in a
work of art entirely of its own respect.
The way in
which African American artists have influenced one another, in turn influencing
those who come after, is also considered in the curation of this exhibition. Minstrel, a striking photograph created
during 1987 and 1988 by Lyle Ashton Harris, commands attention and is about as “in
your face” as a photograph can get. Moreover, the late Roy DeCarava’s
photograph Untitled (Man with Portfolio),
while far less confrontational, still manages to permeate the viewer with its
heaviness.
Jacob Lawrence’s
artwork is impactful both when examined individually and within the context of
art history. Included in this exhibition is a distinctive example of his work,
a well-documented drawing, Children at
Play (circa 1955). This is a work notably created during a period in
between the making of some of Lawrence’s most influential works, evidencing his
varying methods of process. Also included in the exhibition is Romare Bearden’s
Introduction for a Blues Queen (Uptown at
Savoy), a monoprint from his 1979 Jazz
series. It is the original used to print the entirety of the sequence, as
confirmed by the Bearden Foundation and the ink on the back of the work.
No comments:
Post a Comment