Cosmologies from the tree of life : art from the African American South / Valerie Cassel Oliver.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cassel Oliver, Valerie, author.

Contributor:

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, issuing body, publisher, organizer, host institution.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts--Exhibitions.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

African American art--Southern States--Exhibitions.

African American art.

African American aesthetics--Southern States--Exhibitions.

African American aesthetics.

African Americans in art--Exhibitions.

African Americans in art.

African American artists--Southern States--Exhibitions.

African American artists.

Art--Virginia--Richmond--Exhibitions.

Art.

Southern States.

Virginia--Richmond.

Genre:

Exhibition catalogs.

Illustrated works.

Physical Description:

x, 100 pages : colour illustrations, portraits, photographs ; 28 cm

Manufacture:

Richmond, Virginia : Worth Higgins and Associates.

Place of Publication:

Richmond, Virginia : Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2019.

Language Note:

Text in English.

Summary:

"As embodiments of the African American experience and cultural legacies, the works of art featured in Cosmologies from the Tree of Life: Art from the African American South are rooted in African aesthetic legacies, familial tradition, and communal ethos. Previously marginalized as "folk or self-taught" art, they now take their rightful place as significant contributors to the canon of American Modernism. As artists, they imbued their works with a sense of individualistic style, yet they often embraced shared narratives that spoke to cultural, familial, and communal preoccupations. Employing an impressive breadth of media, the works in Cosmologies from the Tree of Life celebrate their imprint in sculpture, quilting, painting, and works on paper. This exhibition's works of art were acquired by VMFA from the Atlanta-based Souls Grown Deep Foundation, an organization whose mission it is to showcase works by African American artists from the South. Artists featured in VMFA's exhibition include Jessie Aaron, Louisiana Bendolph, Thornton Dial, Lonnie B. Holley, Ronald Lockett, Rita Mae Pettway, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, James "Son Ford" Thomas, Mose Tolliver, Purvis Young, and others. An impressive selection of quilts display the unique artistry of the famed multigenerational group of quilt-making women in Gee's Bend, Alabama. Cosmologies from the Tree of Life, which showcases VMFA's acquisitions from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation, gives visitors the opportunity to view these works of art individually and collectively, and to consider their historical roots and their contributions not only to African American art history but also to the larger canon of art in the wake of cultural and social marginalization that their makers endured. The persistence of the artists and the undeniable imprint of their work enable scholars to retrace and, in doing so, reframe American Modernism to embrace such aesthetics rooted in the South and the contributions of these artists. Adding to its significance, the exhibition coincides with American Evolution, commemorating the 400th anniversary of historic events in 1619, including the arrival of the first enslaved African people to Virginia." --VMFA website, accessed 20190920.

Contents:

Director's foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Catalogue. Jesse Aaron ; Thornton Dial ; Lonnie B. Holley ; Ronald Lockett ; Jimmy Lee Sudduth ; James "Son Ford" Thomas ; Mose Tolliver ; Purvis Young ; GEE'S BEND QUILTERS ; Louisiana P. Bendolph ; Mary Lee Bendolph ; Linda Diane Bennett ; Ruth Kennedy ; Creola Bennett Pettway ; Jennie Pettway ; Linda Pettway ; Loretta Pettway ; Louella Pettway ; Lucy T. Pettway ; Rita Mae Pettway ; Nell Hall Williams ; Nettie Young

Exhibition checklist

Bibliography.

Notes:

"This catalogue accompanies the exhibition Cosmologies from the Tree of Life: Art from the African American South, presented at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, June 8-November 17, 2019."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"Cosmologies from the Tree of Life: Art from the African American South" : June 8-November 17, 2019, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, United States.

ISBN:

9781934351161

1934351164

OCLC:

1091293630