In her article “Visiting ‘Soul of a Nation,’” Ashawnta Jackson reviews a 2018 Brooklyn Museum art exhibit that explored the idea of a Black aesthetic. According to the show’s curator, Ashley James, the exhibition brought together “artists who questioned the Black aesthetic and those who had an answer. [But it could] only offer a glimpse into a longer practice … [by] surveying and charting the landscape.” From assemblage artist Betye Saar to quilter Faith Ringgold to jazz great Miles Davis, the following profiles of Black visual artists and musicians survey and chart a similar landscape on a much smaller scale.
Visiting “Soul of a Nation”
November 14, 2018
A new exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum asks: Is there a Black aesthetic?
How Oscar Micheaux Challenged the Racism of Early Hollywood
October 3, 2019
The black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux was one of the first to make films for a black audience, a rebuke to racist movies like The Birth of a Nation.
The Gospel According to Kanye West
February 5, 2020
On the making of gospel music, from Gospel Pearls to Jesus Is King.
The Assemblage Sculptures of Betye Saar
February 15, 2016
Artist Betye Saar subverts, reclaims, and draws on both public and personal spaces. Her work remains as relevant today as it did when it was first created.
How Basquiat Used His Surroundings as a Canvas
April 23, 2019
Jean-Michel Basquiat created art that commented on New York City, while also contributing to its architecture and style.
Afrofuturist Artist Krista Franklin
March 1, 2016
Visual artist Krista Franklin uses various media to create fantastic new worlds inspired by science fiction, the Black Arts Movement, and Afrofuturism.
Butterfly Flow: Tupac, Kendrick Lamar, and the Resurrection of New Black Godz
April 2, 2015
A look at mythic themes in Kendrick Lamar's recent #1 album To Pimp a Butterfly.
The Triumphant Return of Jacob Lawrence
June 4, 2015
Jacob Lawrence’s Great Migration series heads back to NYC where it first debuted. The lasting influence of Jacob Lawrence and his series is inarguable.
Power in the Painting: Faith Ringgold and her Story Quilts
March 18, 2016
Through a didactic retelling of history, artist Faith Ringgold uses her story quilts to reframe the past.
Emma Amos’s Family Romance
November 24, 2017
Postmodernist painter and printmaker Emma Amos makes artwork that references historical figures as well as her family legacy.
The Rediscovery of Photographer Seydou Keïta
October 17, 2016
Seydou Keïta captured Bamako life at the turn of independence in Mali. Keïta’s story is mythic and rich, as is that of his art and photography.
Why Miles Davis’s “Kind of Blue” Is So Beloved
April 21, 2019
A music scholar suggests that Miles Davis combined the blues with the musical avant garde in a manner reflecting the integrationist spirit of the era.
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