A Summer of Celebrating Black Artistry
This summer, leading art institutions across America are presenting expansive exhibits celebrating Black artists. Major museums like the Met, National Gallery, and more are spotlighting underrepresented Black creators with shows spanning different eras, styles, and mediums.
These exhibits provide overdue representation while allowing new generations to discover pioneering Black artists who shaped but were excluded from the canon. Painters, sculptors, photographers and more finally gain recognition through these illuminated displays.
Revealing the Breadth of Black Artistic Expression
Exhibits showcase the diversity of Black artists embracing different genres from portraits to abstracts, landscapes to still life. The National Gallery presents watercolors by landscape painter Robert S. Duncanson, while the Dallas Museum spotlights modernist collages by Beulah Woodard.
The Whitney Museum features photographer and filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles’ early photographic portraits. And the High Museum in Atlanta displays civil rights era paintings by abstract expressionist Alma Thomas. Each exhibit unveils distinct creative visions.
Reshaping Perceptions by Amplifying Excluded Voices
For decades, museums largely overlooked remarkable Black artists due to racial exclusion. But this summer’s exhibits convey a shifting focus on amplifying marginalized voices.
By highlighting breadth and diversity, these shows recontextualize narratives of American art. They demonstrate Black artists were not anomalous figures, but instrumental forces deserving recognition.
A Celebration of Creativity Breaking Through Barriers
This season, barriers to appreciation dissipate through museums embracing what they once excluded. By training spotlights on unsigned Black talents of past and present, a fuller picture of American art emerges.
These illuminating exhibits reveal the perseverance of creativity even in adversity. They are celebrations of Black artists who enriched art despite obstacles, and who now gain their rightful place in history.
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