"Jitterbugs V," William H.
Johnson, 1941-42. Tempera on board from the collection of the
Hampton University Museum, Hampton, Va.
NEW YORK CITY - The Studio Museum in Harlem will present
"Challenge of the Modern: African American Artists 1925-1945," an
examination of the modernist concepts engaged by black artists in
the United States and the Caribbean through March 30.
Drawing on cultural references germane to their experiences as
individuals of African decent, these artists confronted vantage
tendencies in the larger art world and created a 'modernism' that
is, in the words of art historian Helen Shannon, "not always
congruent with canonical histories of European and American
Modernism." More than 100 works, including paintings, sculptures
and photographs, will fill the museum's galleries.
According to Lowery Stokes Sims, SMH executive director and
"Challenge of the Modern" curator, "the exhibit will demonstrate
how artists captured the changes that occurred as populations of
African Americans moved from rural to urban areas in the United
States and the Caribbean in the 1920s, 30s and 40s and embraced
modern life."
In the context of more recent revisionist views of modernism,
"Challenge of the Modern" will contribute to the presentation of
Modernism as a multifaceted process rather than as a singular
stylistic phenomenon, revealing the diversity of aesthetic
options available to all artists in the first half of the
Twentieth Century. It also will distinguish conventional views of
this period in African American art history from those framed
around the concept of the Harlem Renaissance.
"Challenge of the Modern" will focus on elements of modernity
that produce more vanguard stylistic and conceptual themes: the
engagement of African art; the production of the image of the
"New Negro"; performance, sexuality and the black body;
migration/immigration and the urban experience; elements of
design and decoration and spirituality.
Modernism will be examined through the work of artists such as
Aaron Douglas, Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Sargent
Johnson, William H. Johnson, Lois Mailou Jones, Jacob Lawrence,
Norman Lewis and Bruce Nugent working in the United States;
Teodoro Ramos Blanco and Wifredo Lam working in Cuba and Edna
Manley in Jamaica. The exhibition will include photographic work
from Robert McNeil, Morgan and Marvin Smith, and James VanDerZee.
Also included will be works by Euro Americans, such as Stuart
Davis and Winold Weiss, to provide a contextual counterpoint to
the elements addressed by the exhibition.
The Studio Museum in Harlem is at 144 West 125th Street,
between Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard and Lenox Avenue. Hours are
Wednesday through Friday, and Sunday from 12 to 6 pm and from 10
am to 4 pm on Saturdays. The Museum is closed on Monday, Tuesday
and major holidays. Suggested donation for admission is $7. For
information, 212-864-4500, or www.studiomuseum.org.
