Morris Museum of Art displays Abstract Art by Americans of African Descent

Wednesday, 20 February 2008 00:35

AUGUSTA, GA - Something to Look Forward To: Abstract Art by 22 Distinguished Americans of African Descent opens to the public on Saturday, March 22, and remains on view through May 25, 2008, at the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, Georgia. This visually stunning exhibition pays homage to the exceptional talent, unique vision, and courageous persistence of twenty-two African American visual artists who have created dynamic abstract images and objects during extended and successful careers.

Organized by the Phillips Museum of Art of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the exhibition features mixed media, sculptures, paintings, and furniture by Betty Blayton, Frank Bowling, Yvonne Pickering Carter, Edward Clark, Melvin Edwards, Sam Gilliam, David Hammons, Gerald Jackson, Lawrence Compton Kolawole, Alvin Loving, Richard Mayhew, Sam Middleton, Mary Lovelace O'Neal, Joe Overstreet, Howardena Pindell, Helen Evans Ramsaran, John T. Scott, Sylvia Snowden, Mildred Thompson, Jack Whitten, William T. Williams, and Frank Wimberley.

"Few curators realize the extent to which African-American artists have participated in aesthetic developments in abstract art in America," said William Hutson, the exhibitor’s curator and Franklin and Marshall's Cook Distinguished Artist-in-Residence. "Contributing to knowledge about this aspect of material culture, this exhibition honors American artists of African descent who have maintained a consistent focus on abstract expression throughout their careers."

The art critic Franklin Sirmans, who has contributed an essay to the exhibition’s catalogue, adds: "Needless to say, there is a grand tradition at work in this show that needs to be explored, nourished, cherished, and supported. Through the artists and the artworks in Something to Look Forward To, we are offered first and foremost the opportunity to see great art by great artists but secondarily to make a consideration of abstract art that, while not totally original, is glorious. Bringing together these artists — who all happen to be 'black' — we can see that there is a black aesthetic to abstract art."
 
On September 26, 1992, the Morris Museum of Art opened its doors to the public and attracted more than ten thousand visitors in its first three months of operation. Since then, it has strived to fulfill its promise to make the language of artistic expression in the South accessible to a large and diverse audience through dozens of exhibitions and publications. The museum's education department has developed art education programs at many different grade levels in partnership with local school systems and has offered docent-led tours of the museum's holdings and exhibitions to thousands of visitors of all ages every year. The museum's public programs—whether storytelling sessions, readings, concerts, lectures, conversations with artists, or art-making workshops—have contributed to the renaissance of downtown Augusta.  Visit : www.themorris.org/