What does it mean to be Black in 21st century America? The expression of Blackness in art has a history of intricate connections to civil rights and social movements in this country. Today, we hear from curators and artists whose work directly engages with race and identity. Individually and collectively, they generate “freestyle” expressions of Blackness—revealing that no matter how history influences the Black cultural space, identity remains a fluid form in the hands of contemporary artists.
Sound Editor: Anamnesis Audio | Photography: Courtesy of the artists and the Renaissance Society | Feature Image: Rashaad Newsome
Special Audio: Thelma Golden at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Hamza Walker, Black Is, Black Ain’t Symposium, Renaissance Society, Johanne Rahaman field recordings, South Florida, Theaster Gates at Huguenot House in Kassel, Germany, documenta 13, Sanford Biggers, BAM (For Michael), Fahamu Pecou, All that Glitters Ain’t Goals
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- Freestyle 2001: Jennie C. Jones, Homage to an Unknown Suburban Black Girl, 2001
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- Black Is, Black Ain’t 2018, Renaissance Society
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- Soul of a Nation: Muhammad Ali by Andy Warhol,
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- Johanne Rahaman, Black Florida
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- Amy Sherald, The Make Believer (Monet’s Garden)
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- Jefferson Pinder, Mule, Baltimore
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- Sanford Biggers, BAM (for Michael)
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- Theaster Gates, Dorchester Projects, Chicago
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- Deborah Roberts, Red Stripes
Related Episodes: Modern Black Portrait of Florida, Amy Sherald on New Racial Narratives, Amy Sherald on New Racial Narratives, Sanford Biggers on Time and the Human Condition, Fahamu Pecou on Art x Hip-Hop, Theaster Gates on Meaning, Making and Reconciliation, Jefferson Pinder on Symbols of Power and Struggle
Related Links: Thelma Golden, Studio Museum of Harlem, Freestyle, Hamza Walker, Black Is, Black Ain’t, Johanne Rahaman, Jefferson Pinder, Theaster Gates, Sanford Biggers, Amy Sherald, Fahamu Pecou, Deborah Roberts
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