E-Book Overview
African American heritage is rich with stories of family, community, faith, love, adaptation and adjustment, grief, and suffering, all captured in a variety of media by artists intimately familiar with them. From traditional media of painting and artists such as Horace Pippin and Faith Ringgold, to photography of Gordon Parks, and new media of Sam Gilliam and Martin Puryear (installation art), the African American experience is reflected across generations and works. Eight pages of color plates and black and white images throughout the book introduce both favorite and new artists to students and adult readers alike.African American heritage is rich with stories of family, community, faith, love, adaptation and adjustment, grief, and suffering, all captured in a variety of media by artists intimately familiar with them. From traditional media of painting and artists such as Horace Pippin and Faith Ringgold, to photography of Gordon Parks, and new media of Sam Gilliam and Martin Puryear (installation art), the African American experience is reflected across generations and works. Eight pages of color plates and black and white images throughout the book introduce both favorite and new artists to students and adult readers alike.A sampling of the artists included: Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Achamyele Debela, and Melvin Edwards.
E-Book Content
Encyclopedia of African American Artists
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS
dele jegede
Artists of the American Mosaic
GREENWOOD PRESS Westport, Connecticut
•
London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data jegede, dele, 1945– Encyclopedia of African American artists / dele jegede. p. cm. — (Artists of the American mosaic, ISSN 1939–1218) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–313–33761–1 (alk. paper) 1. African American artists—Biography—Dictionaries. 2. African American art—20th century— Dictionaries. 3. African American art—21st century—Dictionaries. I. Title. N6538.N5J44 2009 700.89’96073—dc22 [B] 2008045604 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2009 by dele jegede All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2008045604 ISBN: 978–0–313–33761–1 ISSN: 1939–1218 First published in 2009 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.greenwood.com Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is dedicated to Toyin Falola (Elenu Nla´!). His mouth is indeed big, but not nearly as big as his prodigious capacity for scholarship.
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Contents Preface Acknowledgments
xi xvii
Ghada Amer
1
Olu Amoda
4
Emma Amos
7
Benny Andrews
11
Jean-Michel Basquiat
17
Romare Bearden
21
John Thomas Biggers
26
Alexander (Skunder) Boghossian
30
Elizabeth Catlett
35
Sonya Clark
39
Robert Colescott
43
Larry Collins
47
Edward J. Colston
51
Willis ‘‘Bing’’ Davis
55
Achamyele Debela
58
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