1st West Coast Engagement of Survey Traveling Primarily to Colleges and Universities

Opens July 28 at UC Davis Manetti Shrem Museum

A wide-ranging exhibition that highlights artists of African descent whose work explores identity, politics and art history makes its West Coast debut July 28 at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, at the University of California, Davis.

“Young, Gifted and Black” gathers and elevates an emerging generation of contemporary artists who are engaging with the work of their predecessors while finding different ways to address the history and meaning of Blackness in their work. The group includes well-known artists David Hammons, Kerry James Marshall, Mickalene Thomas, Henry Taylor and Kara Walker, as well as a younger generation gaining wider recognition, including Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Sadie Barnette, Cy Gavin, Arcmanoro Niles, Jennifer Packer and others. The survey is organized around four themes — dramatic use of color, reclamation of the color black, materiality (nontraditional materials), and an expanded idea of portraiture.

I belong here, a neon sculpture by Tavares Strachan, is also on loan from the Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Collection. It is installed in the Manetti Shrem Museum’s lobby through March 2023, coinciding with “Young, Gifted and Black.”

“The Manetti Shrem Museum is excited to host this thought-provoking exhibition,” said Founding Director Rachel Teagle. “Not only does it introduce some of the most significant artists working today to UC Davis and the region, but it’s also in keeping with our track record of presenting emerging artists.”

Only five of the artists in “Young, Gifted and Black” are based on the West Coast, including Sadie Barnette, whose exhibition “Dear 1968,…” was at the Manetti Shrem Museum in 2017.

“I’m thrilled to be partnering with the Manetti Shrem Museum team in bringing “Young, Gifted and Black” to the West Coast,” said Lumpkin.

“At a time when America is wrestling anew with race and racism, and debates about equality and inclusion in the art world have taken on greater urgency, this exhibition assesses how artists today are shaping the way we think about identity, art and history.”

Featured artists
Derrick Adams, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Sadie Barnette, Kevin Beasley, Nayland Blake, Jordan Casteel, Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Caitlin Cherry, Bethany Collins, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Cy Gavin, Alteronce Gumby, Chase Hall, Allison Janae Hamilton, David Hammons, Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle, Lonnie Holley, Tomashi Jackson, Rashid Johnson, Samuel Levi Jones, Jarrett Key, Deana Lawson, Glenn Ligon, Eric N. Mack, Kerry James Marshall, Troy Michie, Wardell Milan, Narcissister, Arcmanoro Niles, Clifford Owens, Jennifer Packer, Adam Pendleton, Christina Quarles, Andy Robert, Jacolby Satterwhite, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Gerald Sheffield, Lorna Simpson, Sable Elyse Smith, Vaughn Spann, Henry Taylor, Chiffon Thomas, Mickalene Thomas, William Villalongo, Kara Walker, Nari Ward, D’Angelo Lovell Williams, Wilmer Wilson IV and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.

Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art
254 Old Davis Road,
Davis, CA 95616
manettishrem.org

Hours
Monday, Thursday & Friday: 11 – 6

Saturday & Sunday: 10 – 5

Admission is free.

Courtesy of: Manetti Shrem Museum

Trib Live
By JoAnne Klimovich Harrop

“Good morning.”

It’s a saying we probably hear daily, but everyone’s “morning” might not be the same.

The better question might be “Is it morning for you yet?” a Mayan Kaqchikel expression that is the title of the 58th Carnegie International. Kaqchikel is a language spoken in Guatemala.

The exhibit acknowledges that human beings’ internal clocks and experiences are different. When it’s morning for some, it might still be night for others, according to a conversation with Guatemalan artist Édgar Calel.

He will be one of the 150 creatives who will present a new commission for the show that opens Sept. 24. It runs through April 2 at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Oakland.

Many participating artists will showcase multiple works — some historical pieces from the collections of international institutions, estates and artists. There will also be new commissions and recent works by contemporary artists.

“There is a definite aspect of this exhibit that is about time, which is something we all share,” said Sohrab Mohebbi, the Kathe and Jim Patrinos Curator of the 58th Carnegie International. “We could be on the same clock in different ways. We have our individual time, but we also have our common time together.”

Mohebbi collaborated with associate curator Ryan Inouye, curatorial assistant Talia Heiman and a team of experts to select pieces that span from 1945 to the present. This will be the first time many of the artists will be showing their work in the U.S.

Established in 1896, the Carnegie International is the longest-running North American exhibition of international art. Organized every three to four years, the event presents an overview of how art and artists respond to the critical questions of our time.

“It’s about solidarity, while each piece is unique, in one exhibit,” Mohebbi said. “These work well together while at the same time, the works are disobedient. How can we make one exhibit that has structure that incites the arts and let the work do what it does best — question our beliefs and expand how we think about the world.”

Mohebbi said art is a form of resistance and survival. He said the exhibition is unique for Pittsburgh, which keeps the history of contemporary art and its tradition alive.

“This is a great treasure with great traditions to be acknowledged,” Mohebbi said. “I invite the city to join us and experience some of the public programs we will be offering to run concurrently with the show.”

Read more…

Courtesy of: Trib Live

VIRTUAL EVENT
LaToya Ruby Frazier in conversation with Flint artists and activists Shea S. Cobb and Amber N. Hasan

The Gordon Parks Foundation
Thursday, April 21, 2022, 6PM ET

Moderated by Michal Raz-Russo, Programs Director, The Gordon Parks Foundation

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER AND WATCH VIA ZOOM

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The Gordon Parks Foundation is pleased to announce the opening of LaToya Ruby Frazier: Flint Is Family In Three Acts. The exhibition celebrates the publication of a Frazier’s book by the same name—the inaugural recipient of The Gordon Parks Foundation / Steidl Book Prize. Flint Is Family In Three Acts chronicles the ongoing man-made water crisis in Flint, Michigan, from the perspective of those who live and fight for their right to access free, clean water. Featuring photographs, texts, poems, and interviews made in collaboration with Flint community members, this body of work serves as an intervention and alternative to mass-media accounts of this political, economic, and racial injustice.

Frazier first traveled to Flint in 2016, as part of an Elle magazine commission to do a photo essay about the water crisis there. During that trip she met Shea S. Cobb, a Flint poet, activist, and mother; and Amber N. Hasan, a mother, hip-hop artist, herbalist, and community organizer, who developed a collaborative creative sisterhood with Frazier. Divided into three acts, Flint Is Family follows Cobb as she fights for her family’s and community’s health and well-being. Spurred by the lack of mass-media interest in the impact of this ongoing crisis, Frazier’s approach ensures that the lives and voices of Flint’s residents are seen and heard, and that their collective creative endeavors provide a solution to this man-made water crisis. Flint Is Family In Three Acts is a twenty-first-century survey of the American landscape that reveals the persistent segregation and racism that haunts it. In equal measure, it is also a story of a community’s strength, pride, and resilience in the face of an ongoing crisis. The exhibition features photographs from Act II and Act III of Flint Is Family In Three Acts, texts by Flint community members, as well as a video Frazier made to accompany the September 2016 Elle article.

LaToya Ruby Frazier was born in 1982 in Braddock, Pennsylvania. Her artistic practice spans a range of media, including photography, video, and performance, and centers on the nexus of social justice, cultural change, and commentary on the American experience. In various interconnected bodies of work, Frazier uses collaborative storytelling with the people who appear in her artwork to address topics of industrialism, Rust Belt revitalization, environmental justice, access to healthcare, family, and communal history. Her work is held in numerous national and international museum collections. Frazier is the recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship (2015) and Guggenheim Fellowship (2014), among other honors and fellowships. Her first book, The Notion of Family (2014), received the International Center for Photography Infinity Award. Frazier currently lives and works in Chicago.

Shea S. Cobb lives and works in Flint, Michigan, where she was born and raised. She is an artist, mother, author, musician, and co-founder of the grassroots organization The Sister Tour. She began her artistic career performing poetry during children’s summer programs and organizing poetry showcases in her community. Her books of poetry include Travels in my Car: Dedicated to the Writer’s Freedom and Honey Tea and Hibiscus: Reflective Heart Poetry (both 2018), and Ruby in the Rough: A Dedication to LaToya Ruby Frazier (2020), co-authored with Amber N. Hasan. Cobb studied communications at the University of Michigan—Flint and at Mott Community College. With Frazier and The Sister Tour, Cobb has traveled across the country telling the story of her community and the water crisis through public programs and performances.

Amber N. Hasan is a writer, wife, mother, actor, hip- hop artist, herbalist, and community organizer residing in Flint, Michigan. She has been writing for as long as she can remember, viewing the practice as a sacred vehicle for feeling spiritually whole and fulfilling life’s purpose. Among her publications is her collection of poetry written with Shea Cobb, Ruby in the Rough: A Dedication to LaToya Ruby Frazier (2020). She is also co-founder of The Sister Tour, which offers platforms, resources, and safe spaces for women artists and entrepreneurs. Hasan is the owner of Mama’s Healing Hands, a line of natural healing products that was launched to address hair loss and skin rashes suffered by Flint residents as a result of the water crisis.

Courtesy of: The Gordon Parks Foundation