Black Art, Black History, Black Voices
Recent years have seen a rise in exhibitions featuring Black artists, a crucial step in lifting the damper on Black voices and understanding the intersection between expression and justice.
Blues music. Swing dancing. Acrylic nails. Even cubism, a movement often accredited to European artists, was inspired by African art. A significant portion of the art and culture celebrated in America has been derived from that of Black people, yet, a 2019 study found that across several American art museums, only 1.2% of featured artists identified as Black. Recently, however, we have seen a much-needed rise in exhibitions featuring Black artists, a crucial step in lifting the damper on Black voices and understanding the intersection between expression and justice.
By putting on exhibitions that not only feature Black artists but also their criticism of the oppression and injustice of the nation, museums and galleries take a step towards repairing these wrongs. ”
In April of 2022, a show opened at the Mississippi Museum of Art titled A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration. The exhibition has brought into focus the movement of around 6 million black people from the American South to the Northern and Western regions in the early 1900s. It explores the idea of racial identity in conjunction with family history, bringing such a significant event in history to a personal level. In doing so, A Movement in Every Direction puts on display the stories of African American families—not perhaps made palatable or agreeable, but with the nuance and complexity of history.
Black Melancholia, which opened last June at the Hessel Museum of Art in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, approaches the tribulations of black history through yet another lens. It highlights the condition of melancholia—the dread, depression, anger, and despair—as portrayed by Black women from the late-19th century to the modern day. Sculptures and paintings depict Black figures hunched over or staring into space, shock or grief seeming to emanate from them. While some of these works have been lost, only preserved in photographs, they remain powerful in depicting the aches and sorrows of Black history.
Another collection held at The New Museum in New York looked more broadly at the injustice and loss that has shaped the experiences of African Americans for centuries. Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America was conceived in response to the racism and violence Black Americans face and the hurt inflicted by their white counterparts due to “feared loss of…control.” The exhibition drew from a broad range of mediums and focuses, from a short narrative film about mass incarceration (“Alone,” Garrett Bradley) to a text piece on the museum’s facade addressing police violence (“blues blood bruise,” Glenn Ligon). Each one was presented in a vivid and unfiltered manner that felt crucial in confronting the harm done to Black Americans and its legacy.
By putting on exhibitions that not only feature Black artists but also their criticism of the oppression and injustice of the nation, museums and galleries take a step towards repairing these wrongs. This provides a stage on which Black artists address their history, tell their stories, and confront the uncomfortable; because what is art for, if not to give voice to those from all walks of life?
