It's not too late, but don't tarry.
If you haven't seen "On Their Own Terms" or want to see it another time or two, better get a move on.
This superb exhibition of historic and contemporary African-American art at the Windgate Center of Art + Design at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock closes March 10.
Curated by gallery director Brad Cushman and shown in the Cushman and Small galleries of the Windgate Center, the show includes works by 19th-century artists such as Edward Mitchell Bannister, Robert Scott Duncanson, Charles Ethan Porter and Henry Ossawa Tanner alongside modern and contemporary artists such as Kehinde Wiley, Amy Sherald, Delita Martin, David Driskell and Whitfield Lovell.
Cushman sees the exhibition as an intergenerational narrative. The viewer certainly can witness that on the walls: "On Their Own Terms" is an imaginative, inspiring series of scenarios that show how artists inspire and influence other artists. It is particularly powerful in the context of African-American art, since most black artists in the 19th century weren't sought out or welcomed into galleries and museums. Only in the past few decades, since the rise of the civil rights movement, have those barriers begun to fall.
The entrance at the Cushman Gallery starts viewers off right -- Sherald's wonderfully vibrant and intense 2012 oil on canvas Welfare Queen, with touches of minimalism and surrealism, near Elizabeth Catlett's wondrous 1955 drawing, a graphite on paper titled Newspaper Vendor.
They are two of the more than 50 works by 37 artists -- including 17 women -- in the exhibit.
The show's jaw-dropper is Martin's powerful installation The Dinner Table. A white table and chairs sit in a large alcove; three walls are covered with various sized plates on which Martin has used black China marker to create women's portraits. The variety of plates calls attention to the diverse cast filling these walls. The plates are different sizes; some have patterns or borders, some have textures, a few have have chips. Sounds like a lot of us, doesn't it? It's a great metaphor for family, which Martin embraces to include the family of friends as well as blood relatives.
It's not much of a stretch to hear these voices rise and fall in laughter, tears and with a boisterous exchange here and there. The installation's power is almost overwhelming, like walking into a family gathering when everyone is talking at once. Pull up a chair and join in.
While it is an homage of sorts to Judy Chicago's work, Martin's The Dinner Table embraces the dining room to explore its role as a women's gathering place where confidences are shared, advice given and bonds forged, and elevates it to the sacred.
Aj Smith's pensive, thoughtful Mr. Q.T., WWII Vet, part of his Faces of the Delta series, is a stunning 2018 graphite drawing on paper that stands with his very best work. Also impressive: James Phillips' 1995 Homage to Sun Ra, acrylic on paper; it reflects the musician's complex and experimental jazz.
Carrie Mae Weems' powerful, provocative Mirror, Mirror, a 1987 silver gelatin print, challenges the cultural standards of beauty. Its placement near Caitlin Cherry's Blacchyna, a 2017 oil on canvas, and Kerry James Marshall's Study for Supermodel #2 from 1994 drives the message home.
In the Small Gallery, there are several inspired pairings: Duncanson's beautiful oil painting circa 1852 Untitled (Landscape), with its "faces" in the rocks, hangs so that Bessie Harvey's 1994 sculpture Whoopi Mask of wood, paint and marbles echoes those faces. Bisa Butler's way-cool Basin Street Blues, a quilted and appliqued cotton and denim portrait, plays nicely next to artist the Rev. George Paul Kornegay's primitive wood, metal and paint piece Guardian and Kehinde Wiley's Peter Chardon Study, a 2006 oil on paper.
Another fascinating pairing is Little Rock artist Marjorie Williams-Smith's silverpoint and copperpoint floral Three Graces with Charles Ethan Porter's oil on canvas Orange Carnation from 1891.
Also moving are the faith-based works of Henry Ossawa Tanner -- Untitled (figure study for The Holy Family), circa 1910, and Untitled (figure study for The Annunciation), circa 1898. Both are pencil on paper and are quietly powerful and moving.
Based on the number of pieces -- 16 --on loan from the Arkansas Arts Center, the museum clearly could curate a superb exhibit of its African-American art from its collection. The exhibition also includes works from Hearne Fine Art gallery owners Garbo and Dr. Archie Hearne.
"On Their Own Terms" is beautiful, thoughtful and enriching.
"On Their Own Terms," through March 10, Brad Cushman Gallery and Small Gallery, Windgate Center of Art + Design, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 28th Street and East Campus Drive, Little Rock. Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, 2-5 p.m. Sunday. Info: (501) 916-5103
'PAST LIVES'
Photographer Vincent Griffin had two works accepted into the Arkansas Arts Center's Delta Exhibition in 2017. But that didn't lead to a solo show right away.
It just happened last month when "Past Lives" opened at the Argenta Branch of the William F. Laman Public Library in North Little Rock. The exhibit closes Saturday.
When you enter the library's gallery, take a left turn and pick up a title sheet from the stand. This engaging exhibit of silver gelatin prints does not have labels (at Griffin's request). But one can see the point: It makes for a clean, crisp installation of his black-and-white photographs.
One of the more striking works is Joel. A man in a cornfield faces us. He is shrouded, perhaps sheltered or protected by the overlapping leaves of corn stalks, adding a sense of mystery and a tinge of fantasy and magical realism.
Other standouts: My Father's Funeral, in which a couple of children are crouched behind headstones; Girl in Window, which makes good use of reflected images; and News, a photo of an overturned newspaper box.
Griffin has a good eye for composition and an intriguing perspective. Several photos of children have a naturalistic, appealing tone. Life is captured one scene at a time. It feels immediate, as it also stirs our own memories.
"Past Lives," through Saturday, William F. Laman Public Library, Argenta Branch, 420 Main St., North Little Rock. Hours: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday. Info: (501) 687-1061.
OPENING!
"Part to Whole: The Making of Art, the Artist and the Artist Group" opens with a reception at 5-8 p.m. Friday in the Galleries at Library Square, 401 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock. The exhibit, which features works by Robyn Horn, Mia Hall, Dolores Justus, Barbara Satterfield, Sandra Sell and Elizabeth Weber, will run through June 29.
Email:
ewidner@arkansasonline.com
Style on 03/03/2019