African Queen
The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
January 26 - March 27, 2005
The Studio Museum in Harlem presents African Queen, an exhibition that explores both real and imagined attitudes that have come to define what constitutes the black queen. These are the thoughts that artists have espoused in their work to muse the black woman in history and in popular culture. The image of the black woman spans countless generations and diverse media, from Egyptian sculpture and European portrait painting, to Hollywood films and fashion magazines.
From diva to bodybuilder to supermodel, these images speak to desire, history and attitude that has come to define the ever evolving image of an African Queen. With more than 50 works in various media by 30 artists, African Queen cycles through numerous images and notions of black women by contemporary artists working in painting, sculpture, photography, video and mixed media. For example Nigerian photographer J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere’s, Ogun Pari (2000), translates to “war is over” and depicts a hairstyle that celebrates the end of the Nigerian civil war in 1970. On the other hand, Nzingah Muhammad’s Extended Veil, a photograph of her fathers four wives sharing one same veil, symbolically representing the unity brought. Whereas Wangechi Mutu’s collages infuse African rituals, immigrant nightmares and contemporary ‘bling.’
Charita (2001), a photograph by Dawoud Bey, is of a teenager in Chicago’s south side who strikes a pose in her leopard slippers. John Bankston’s watercolor painting, The Good Fairy Takes a Break (2004), and Mickalene Thomas’ work in mixed media, Rumor has It (2003), both present the extroverted and liberal. Lawdy Mama (1979), a painting by Barkley Hendricks represents a black woman as an icon. While Deb Willis’s photographs explore the beauty of black female bodybuilders. In contrast, the works by Iké Udé, Lyle Ashton Harris and John Bankston expand the discourse of African Queen to include drag queens and transgender.
African Queen is the first in a series of exhibitions organized by the 2005 Studio Museum in Harlem Curatorial Team, composed of Rashida Bumbray, Ali Evans, Sandra D. Jackson and Christine Y. Kim. Inspired by works from the permanent collection and including recent acquisitions, gifts and loans, African Queen reflects the exchange of ideas that live in the museum’s collective and collaborative psyche.
ARTISTS IN THE EXHIBITION
JOHN BANKSTON, Born 1968 in Benton Harbor, MI - Lives and works in San Francisco, CA
DAWOUD BEY, Born 1953 in Queens, NY - Lives and works in Chicago, IL
MARK BRADFORD, Born 1961 in Los Angeles, CA - Lives and works in Inglewood, CA
CHAKAIA BOOKER, Born 1953 in Newark, NJ - Lives and works in New York, NY
RENEE COX, Born 1960 in Colgate, Jamaica - Lives and works in Chappaqua, NY
RICO GASTON, Born 1966 in Augusta, GA - Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY
LYLE ASHTON HARRIS, Born 1965 in Bronx, NY - Lives and works in New York, NY
BARKLEY HENDRICKS, Born 1945 in Philadelphia, PA - Lives and works in New London, CT
DEANA LAWSON, Born 1979 in Rochester, NY - Lives and works in Rochester, NY
KALUP LINZY, Born 1977 in Clermont, FL - Lives and works in Brooklyn, New York
ADIA MILLETT, Born 1975 in Los Angeles, CA - Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY
NZINGAH MUHAMMAD, Born 1976 in New York, NY - Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY
WANGECHI MUTU, Born 1972 in Nairobi, Kenya - Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY
KORI NEWKIRK, Born 1970 in Bronx, NY - Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA
J.D. ’OKHAI OJEIKERE, Born 1930 in Ovbiomu-Emai, Nigeria - Lives and works in Lagos
NADINE ROBINSON, Born 1968 in London, England - Lives and works in Bronx, New York TRACEY ROSE, Born 1974 in Durban, South Africa - Lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa
RUDY SHEPHERD
MALICK SIDIBE, Born 1935 in Soloba, Mali - Lives and works in Bamako, Mali
LORNA SIMPSON, Born 1960 in Brooklyn, NY - Lives and works in Brooklyn
XAVIERA SIMMONS, Born 1974 in New York, NY - Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY
SHINIQUE SMITH, Born 1971 in Baltimore, MD - Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY
MICKALENE THOMAS, Born 1971 in Camden, New Jersey - Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY
FATIMAH TUGGAR, Born 1967 in Kaduna, Nigeria - Lives and works in New York, NY
JAMES VANDERZEE (1886-1983)
FRANCESCO VEZZOLI, Born 1971 in Brescia, Italy - Lives and works in Milan, Italy
CARRIE MAE WEEMS, Born 1953 in Portland, Oregon - Lives and works in New York, NY
KARA WALKER, Born 1969 in Stockton, CA - Lives and works in New York, NY
DEBORAH WILLIS, Born 1948 in Philadelphia, PA - Lives and works in New York, NY
IKÉ UDÉ, Born in Lagos, Nigeria - Lives and works in New York, NY and Paris, France
THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM - SMH
144 West 125th Street, New York, NY 10027
Updated post
