Black Art in the Absence of Light

Jordan Casteel, 1989 Denver

Kehinde Wiley, 1977, LA

Hank Willis Thomas 1976 Plainfield

Theaster Gates, 1973, Chicago

Amy Sherald, 1973, Columbus GA "Becoming an artist is not empirical. It's not about hard work. I mean, you have to put in the hard work but that doesn't mean you're going to make it. 

Sanford Biggers, Codeswitch, 2018

Sanford Biggers, 1970, LA

Kara Walker, 1969, California

Radcliffe Bailey, 1968, NJ (died 2023)

Lyle Ashton Harris, 1965, Bronx

Lorna Simpson, 1960, Brooklyn

Glenn Ligon, 1960, The Bronx

Renee Cox, 1960, Jamaica

Fred Wilson, 1954, NY, NY

Carrie Mae Weems, 1953, Portland, OR

Adrian Piper, 1948, Ny, NY

Kerry James Marshall, Many Mansions, 1994

Kerry James Marshall b, 1955, Birmingham, "unequivocally black, emphatically Black." 

Kerry James Marshall, Untitled (Pink Towel), ~2017

Emma Amos, Valued, 1992

Emma Amos, 1937, Atlanta

Faith Ringgold, The Flag is Burning #2, 199

Faith Ringgold, 1930, NY, NY

Bettye Saar, Black Girl's Window, 1969

Bettye Saar, b. 1926 LA

Richard Mayhew, b. 1924 Amityville, NY

Charles White b. 1918 Chicago

Jacob Lawrence b. 1917 Chicago

Elizabeth Catlett, Sharecropper, 1946

Elizabeth Catlett, b. 1915, Washington DC

Romare Bearden, The Black American in Search of His Identity (1969)

Romare Bearden, 1911, Charlotte

Lois Maillou Jones, b. 1905, Boston

Selma Burke, 1900, Mooresville, NC. 

“I SHAPED MY DESTINY EARLY WITH THE CLAY OF NORTH CAROLINA RIVERS … I LOVED TO MAKE THE WHITEWASH FOR MY MOTHER AND WAS EXCITED AT THE IMPRINTS OF THE CLAY AND THE MALLEABILITY OF THE MATERIAL.”

Hale Woodruff, 1900 Cairo, Il

Edward Mitchell Bannister, 1828, St. Andrews, Canada 

Robert Seldon Duncanson, 1821, Fayette, NY

Joshua Johnson, The Westwood Children, ~1807

Joshua Johnson, 1763, Baltimore

Collectors

Kasseem Dean (Swizz Beatz) and Alicia Keys 

Oprah Winfrey

Beyoncé and JayZ

Curators & Scholars: 

David Driskell

Richard Powell

Thelma Golden (Harlem Museum) 

Bernard Lumpkin

Mary Schmidt Cambell

Sarah Lewis

Valerie Kasseley

Rujeko Hockley

Linda Harrison (Newark Museum)

Maurice Berger

2:50 why take issue with Black Art

David Driskell 28

Amy Sherald 44

Swizz Beatz / Kasseem Dean (living artists 45) 

Black Masculinities 51

Hank Willis Thomas and what it means to collect living artists 48

Constructs 53

Kara Walker 59