Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Art historian Farrington (African-American Art) rounds up letters, interviews, speeches, and other primary accounts from 20th- and 21st-century Black artists for this valuable compendium. The selections highlight "that, as yet, there exists no utopia wherein Black artists can simply be artists." The volume begins with Alain Locke's 1925 essay on a "Black aesthetic," a style inspired by contemporary Black culture and African traditions that focuses on "ennobling Black subject matter." It then unpacks how that aesthetic has been cultivated--and challenged--by artists involved in the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement, Afrocentrism, Post-Black Art, and more. The texts range far and wide, from sculptor Nancy Elizabeth Prophet's diary detailing a life of poverty in 1920s and '30s Paris to a critique of Kara Walker's art, which found mainstream popularity via controversial depictions of Black subjects, including girls being sexually abused. The wide-ranging selection makes accessible the thoughts of artists whose work has gone underrecognized, particularly with pieces like Prophet's handwritten diary, which was transcribed especially for this book. The result is a keen and insightful window into a rich artistic legacy. (Sept.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Making their voices heard. Art historian Farrington has edited a comprehensive collection of statements from more than 60 Black artists, from the turn of the 20th century to the present, reflecting on their aesthetic goals, their connection to European and indigenous artistic movements, and their response to the call from the community to create a Black aesthetic. Some artists gained easy recognition; others struggled with poverty and bias: "The pathology of racism has affected most, if not all, of them," Farrington reveals. Organized chronologically and thematically, the collection begins in 1879 with Henry Tanner, the first African American to enroll at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and Alain Locke, a leading Black intellectual and Howard University professor. The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s is represented by 10 artists, including sculptor Meta Warrick Fuller, who studied with Rodin, Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, Romare Bearden, and Jacob Lawrence. Two sections are devoted to the Black diaspora: The first, which emerged as a sister movement of the Harlem Renaissance, aimed to foster international Black consciousness in the arts; the later movement, in the 1960s and '70s, sought racial solidarity in the wake of decolonization. Other sections gather artists' responses to abstract art, activism during the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s, Black feminist art, and conceptual art. A final section, titled "Rethinking Race," features artists working at the turn of the 21st century who engage with--and argue about--the term "post-Black." Included in this section are some well-known figures: Jean Michel-Basquiat, MacArthur Fellow Kara Walker, and Obama portraitist Kehinde Wiley. The handsomely produced volume includes 14 color images and 21 black-and-white images. Each of the book's nine sections is contextualized with a perceptive introduction. An invaluable celebration of Black creativity. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
