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Episode 52: Brooke talks with Rock Hushka, chief curator of the Tacoma Art Museum about the 30 Americans exhibition which runs until this Sunday, January 15, 2017. The critically acclaimed showcase of influential African-American artists who have have emerged as leading contributors to the contemporary art scene in the United States was put together nearly a decade ago, but is making its West Coast debut at the TAM. Eight of the thirty artists featured have strong Pacific Northwest connections, and the TAM has several programs related to the exhibition to involve the community in the discussion.
Featured Image: Glenn Ligon, America, 2008. Neon sign and paint, ed. of 1 plus AP, 24 × 168 inches. Courtesy of the Rubell Family Collection. A group of 30 Americans artists, left to right: Rashid Johnson, Nick Cave, Kalup Linzy, Jeff Sonhouse, Lorna Simpson, Carrie Mae Weems, Barkley L. Hendricks, Hank Willis Thomas (front row), Xaviera Simmons, Purvis Young, John Bankston, Nina Chanel Abney, Henry Taylor, Mickalene Thomas (front row), Kerry James Marshall, and Shinique Smith.
Photo credit: Kwaku Alston, 2008.
Kara Walker Camptown Ladies, 1998 Paper, 8 × 55 feet Courtesy of the Rubell Family Collection
Jean-Michel Basquiat Bird On Money, 1981 Acrylic and oil on canvas
66 × 90 inches Courtesy of the Rubell Family Collection
Glenn Ligon America, 2008 Neon sign and paint, ed. of 1 plus AP 24 × 168 inches Courtesy of the Rubell Family Collection
Rashid Johnson The New Negro Escapist Social and Athletic Club (Thurgood), 2008 Lambda print, ed. 2/5 69 × 55½ inches Courtesy of the Rubell Family Collection
Hank Willis Thomas Who Can Say No to a Gorgeous Brunette? from the Unbranded series, 1970/2007 Digital C-print Edition 1 of 5 31⅛ × 30 inches Courtesy of the Rubell Family Collection
Episode 41: Who are you? Who am I? Who is that? Identity in American culture is often as much about how an individual presents himself or herself as it about how that person’s identity is externally determined. Brooke talks with associate curator Maggie Adler of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas about Identity, an exhibition which explores community, celebrity and individual identity through portraiture from the Amon Carter’s permanent collection. The exhibition highlights the exciting new acquisitions of Sedrick Huckaby’s The 99% and Glenn Ligon’s print series Runaways. Their works – in combination with prints and photographs of and by public figures such as Marilyn Monroe, Martin Luther King, Jr., and and Georgia O’Keeffe – show the various personas individuals adopt. Together, these portraits represent the fluid and constantly shifting role of identity in society from the twentieth to the twenty-first century. Identity runs until October 9, 2016.
Mervin Jules (1912–1994) Martin Luther King Jr, ca. 1963–68
Woodcut
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. John Richardson Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas