The Art of History: African American Women Artists Engage the Past
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.69 (632 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0813530229 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 224 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-09-02 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Lisa Gail Collins teaches in the art history department and the Africana studies program at Vassar College.
By examining the social and cultural histories which African American women artists engage, Collins illuminates a dialogue between past and present imagemakers.The Art of History is a major contribution to the study of American visual culture. Scholars and general readers alike are sure to be compelled by this original and innovative study.”—Valerie Smith, author of Not Just Race, Not Just Gender: Black Feminist ReadingsIn this lively and engaging book, Lisa Gail Collins examines the work of contemporary African American women artists. It provides cogent and insightful explorations of the work of contemporary African American women artists. Her study comes at a time when an unprecedented number of these artists—photographers, filmmakers, painters, installation and mixed-media artists—have garnered the attention and imagination of the art-viewing public.To better understand the significance of this particular historical moment in American visual arts, Collins focuses on four “problems” that recur when these artists confront their histories: the documentation of truth; the status of the black female body; the relationship between art and cultural contact and change; and the relationship between art and black girlhood. “This important study is the first to confront head-on the avoidance of the visual that has plagued black studies in the United States. It will b
This is a perceptive study of the forthright work of contemporary African American women painters, sculptors, photographers, and installation artists. From Booklist Collins, an art historian at Vassar, is a bit academic in tone, but that won't deter readers. Donna SeamanCopyright © American Library Association. Many of today's black women artists, including Carrie Mae Weems, Lorna Simpson, Alison Saar, Beverly Buchanan, Clarissa Sligh, and Julie Dash, confront this predicament by trenchantly addressing the historic and current provocation of the black female body, and critiquing society's shying away from black art, efforts undertaken with the noble intention of breaking down
Highly accessible reading; fine and original scholarship. I read this book in two sittings. Lisa Gail Collins does a beautiful job of opening up a world I did not yet fully understand. I am a southern, white, visual artist and photographer, with complicated ties to a black culture that has contributed very much to the way I think, and work, and live. Certainly my art history courses in college taught me none of this. This book illuminates the work of Renee Stout, Carrie Mae Weems, and more, and lays out the background of negative image making in the history of women of color, particularly, which, s. Five Stars Amazon Customer Great, used for my African American DIaspora Art History class.. "Truly an amazing read!" according to simone. I am in the middle of reading this fascinating book and it just occurred to me that, aside from Alison Saar, I had never heard of any of the artists mentioned in the book before. The solutions that these artists have found to answer many of the problems in image-making as it pertains to the black female body are intriguing and profound. Sadly, I am a black woman and I graduated from a BFA program a few years ago without being taught any of this. It should be on the course syllabus for any comprehensive survey of art history.