"African Americans: Seeing and Seen, 1766–1916" Exhibition
Driscoll Babcock Galleries
This event has ended.
Babcock Galleries presents "African Americans: Seeing and Seen, 1766 – 1916," an incisive overview of refined and controversial fine art and popular culture images of African Americans as artists and subjects. Bitter brutality and cruel caricature alternate with respectful revelations and positive portrayals of the status of African Americans. It may be said that all portrayals become betrayals in revealing the motivations and prejudices of their creator, and the images in this exhibition offer telling insights into the prevailing notions of the period. Each work is not only a signpost of the complex nature of our cultural forbearers, but also a harbinger of the ongoing struggle for equal rights in the United States. Tess Sol Schwab, Assistant Director at Babcock Galleries and curator of this exhibition, points out that African American history “…can be catalogued by the racist and derogatory images across the centuries that have mirrored popular views while at the same time shaping and reinforcing them. Yet, sensitive portrayals of blacks by whites also exist alongside them, as well as inspiring and successful careers by African American artists.” Noting the contradiction in a country’s founding ideal of “all men are created equal” being penned by a man who owned two hundred slaves, "Seeing and Seen" attempts to reveal the many layers that emerged from this complicated beginning.
[Image: Sir Thomas Malory "A Student of 'La Morte D'Arthur'" (19th c.) Gouache on paper 9.75 x 7.5 in.]
Media
Schedule
from January 21, 2010 to April 02, 2010