Black Art: A Cultural History

(Paperback, Revised and expanded edition)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

This groundbreaking book explores the visual representations of black culture throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. From blues to rap, from the paintings of Henry Ossawa Tanner to the video pieces of Keith Piper and Steve McQueen, it draws on the work of hundreds of artists, including Wifredo Lam, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Martin Puryear, Spike Lee, Adrian Piper, Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, Chris Ofili and Yinka Shonibare. This new edition provides expanded coverage of film and video, and an additional chapter on the work of artists who have risen to prominence in recent years. Over 180 biographical notes provide a unique reference source.

Reviews

'A breakthrough work imaginative highly engaging thoroughly grounded' - Suzanne Preston Blier, Harvard University
'Excellent artists profiles, lots of reproductions, and illuminating and original discussions of the social and cultural contexts and implications' - Booklist
'Significantly advances the discourse on black art and culture' - International Review of African American Art

Author Bio

Richard J. Powell (MFA, Howard University; Ph.D., Yale University) is the John Spencer Bassett Professor of Art & Art History at Duke University. He is the author of Homecoming: The Art and Life of William H. Johnson, Black Art: A Cultural History, Cutting a Figure: Fashioning Black Portraiture and Going There: Black Visual Satire. Powell has also curated numerous art exhibitions, most notably Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance, To Conserve A Legacy: American Art at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist. From 2007 until 2010, Powell was Editor-in-Chief of The Art Bulletin.