“From Post-Black to the Afropolitan: The Studio Museum’s ‘F-Shows’ and Discourses on Black Art”
in The Routledge Companion to African Diaspora Art History
Edited by Dr. Eddie Chambers
Click here for information about the book
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Chapter Abstract:
This chapter chronicles the impact of The Studio Museum in Harlem’s series of “F-Show” exhibitions on discourses around Black art and identity in the twenty-first century. Conceived originally by Thelma Golden, the exhibitions Freestyle (2001), Frequency (2005-06), Flow (2008); Fore (2012-2013), and Fictions (2017-18) are credited with launching the careers of emerging Black artists, writers, and curators while also charting key discursive tendencies and shifts regarding race, representation, and curatorial practice. The chapter considers three key facets through which the series’ art historical importance can be assessed: First, it positions Freestyle as a curatorial intervention into the prevailing genre of the identity-based exhibition of the 1980s and 1990s; Second, it parses the provocative term “post-black” that has cemented Freestyle’s place in the historiography of African Diaspora art. Third, it charts the expanded conversations around globalization, African art, and Black identity, placing primary focus on Flow. The chapter, as a whole, reflects on the Studio Museum’s self-positioning as a key axis point within the international and transhistorical formations of African Diaspora history, art, and culture.
About the book:
This is an authoritative companion that is global in scope, recognizing the presence of African Diaspora artists across the world. It is a bold and broad reframing of this neglected branch of art history, challenging dominant presumptions about the field.
Diaspora pertains to the global scattering or dispersal of, in this instance, African peoples, as well as their patterns of movement from the mid twentieth century onwards. Chapters in this book emphasize the importance of cross-fertilization, interconnectedness, and intersectionality in the framing of African Diaspora art history. The book stresses the complexities of artists born within, or living and working within, the African continent, alongside the complexities of Africa-born artists who have migrated to other parts of the world. The group of international contributors emphasizes and accentuates the interplay between, for example, Caribbean art and African Diaspora art, or Latin American art and African Diaspora art, or Black British art and African Diaspora art.
The book will be of interest to scholars and students working in art history, the various branches of African studies, African American studies, African Diaspora studies, Caribbean studies, and Latin American studies.
in The Routledge Companion to African Diaspora Art History
Edited by Dr. Eddie Chambers
Click here for information about the book
Chapter Abstract:
This chapter chronicles the impact of The Studio Museum in Harlem’s series of “F-Show” exhibitions on discourses around Black art and identity in the twenty-first century. Conceived originally by Thelma Golden, the exhibitions Freestyle (2001), Frequency (2005-06), Flow (2008); Fore (2012-2013), and Fictions (2017-18) are credited with launching the careers of emerging Black artists, writers, and curators while also charting key discursive tendencies and shifts regarding race, representation, and curatorial practice. The chapter considers three key facets through which the series’ art historical importance can be assessed: First, it positions Freestyle as a curatorial intervention into the prevailing genre of the identity-based exhibition of the 1980s and 1990s; Second, it parses the provocative term “post-black” that has cemented Freestyle’s place in the historiography of African Diaspora art. Third, it charts the expanded conversations around globalization, African art, and Black identity, placing primary focus on Flow. The chapter, as a whole, reflects on the Studio Museum’s self-positioning as a key axis point within the international and transhistorical formations of African Diaspora history, art, and culture.
About the book:
This is an authoritative companion that is global in scope, recognizing the presence of African Diaspora artists across the world. It is a bold and broad reframing of this neglected branch of art history, challenging dominant presumptions about the field.
Diaspora pertains to the global scattering or dispersal of, in this instance, African peoples, as well as their patterns of movement from the mid twentieth century onwards. Chapters in this book emphasize the importance of cross-fertilization, interconnectedness, and intersectionality in the framing of African Diaspora art history. The book stresses the complexities of artists born within, or living and working within, the African continent, alongside the complexities of Africa-born artists who have migrated to other parts of the world. The group of international contributors emphasizes and accentuates the interplay between, for example, Caribbean art and African Diaspora art, or Latin American art and African Diaspora art, or Black British art and African Diaspora art.
The book will be of interest to scholars and students working in art history, the various branches of African studies, African American studies, African Diaspora studies, Caribbean studies, and Latin American studies.