Racism and art in the United States
Feminisms and Other Engagements
11.01.2018 | Camille Duhautbout
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Ellen Gallagher, Wiglette from DeLuxe, 2004, photogravure and plasticine, 33 x 26.6 cm each, 13 x 10 1/2 in. each, Courtesy Gagosian Gallery
The notion of identity is one that is constantly questioned and apprehended by artists, as they seek to depict a history of divisions in order to make it theirs, especially in the United States, where women artists use their art to raise awareness and denounce the oppression of non-white people. The sculptor Augusta Savage paved the way in the early 20th century by becoming the first African-American to question racial prejudice in the art world after having been excluded from a study programme in France because of her skin colour. The racism endured day after day, with more or less intensity depending on the context and period, became a subject frequently addressed by 20th-century artists, using a variety of mediums. It became a central element in the works of many artists such as Ellen Gallagher, who challenged racial archetypes with her piece Pomp-Bang (2003), which juxtaposed “pictures drawn from magazine advertisements for skin-lightening creams and hair relaxing products”. Kara Walker creates vast murals depicting silhouettes that describe the everyday lives of an exploited, enslaved black population and of a hypersexualised black woman in Slavery! Slavery! Presenting a GRAND and LIFELIKE Panoramic Journey into Picturesque Southern Slavery or “Life at ‘Ol’ Virginny’s Hole” (sketches from Plantation Life) (2008). Some African-American or native Americans women artists distance themselves from any forms of taboo and backbiting, instead using their art to express and question their identity and history.
1965 | United States
Ellen Gallagher
1948 | United States
Adrian Piper
1892 — 1962 | United States
Augusta Savage
1969 | United States
Kara Walker
1985 | United States
Guerrilla Girls
1915 — United States | 2012 — Mexico
Elizabeth Catlett
1943 | United States
Howardena Pindell
1940 | United States
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith
1900 — 1995 | United States
Selma Hortense Burke
1905 — 1998 | United States
Lois Mailou Jones
1934 | United States
Lorraine O’Grady
1891 — 1978 | United States
Alma Woodsey Thomas
1959 — 2018 | United States
Laura Aguilar
1940 — 1985 | Korea
Wook-kyung Choi
1926 | United States
Betye Saar
1937 — 2020 | United States
Emma Amos
1962 | United-Kingdom
Sonia Boyce
1953 | United States
Carrie Mae Weems
1971 | United States
Mickalene Thomas
1954 | Taiwan
Shu Lea Cheang
1834 — 1910 | United States
Harriet Powers
1948 | United States
Joyce J. Scott
1960 | United States
Lorna Simpson
1948 | United States
Deborah Willis
1844 — United States | 1907 —
Mary Edmonia « Wildfire » Lewis
1950 | United States
Ming Smith
1967 | United States
Simone Leigh
1882 — 1934 | United States
Doris Ulmann
1895 — 1965 | United States
Dorothea Lange
1941 | United Kingdom
Sue Williamson
1885 — 1966 | United States
Malvina Hoffman
1961 | South Africa
Jo Ractliffe
1877 — 1968 | United States
Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller
1909 — 2003 | United States
Ruth G. Waddy
1958 | United States
Renee Stout
1870 — 1919 | United States
Angel De Cora
1967 | United States
Marie Watt
1945 | United States
Jean LaMarr
1924 — Haiti | 1994 — France
Luce Turnier
1938 — 2015 | Uruguay
Nelbia Romero
1969 | United States
Nao Bustamante
1953 | South Korea
Yong Soon Min
1951 — South Korea | 1982 — United States
Theresa Hak Kyung Cha
1954 | United States
Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie
1960 | United States
Coco Fusco
1931 — 1986 | Nicaragua
June Beer
1899 — Netherlands | 1984 — Surinam
Nola Hatterman
1952 | Vietnam
Trinh T. Minh-ha
1904 — 1992 | United States
Delilah W. Pierce
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