Who's Representing the Black Subject?-Part One

Commentary by Jocelyn M. Goode
"Market Twins" by Jocelyn M. Goode

The debate over the definition of black art is a long-standing one. Is black art, art that represents a black subject or topic regardless of the race of the creator of the work or is black art made by a black person regardless of what he/she is representing in the work? and who is black anyway?

I take the position that black art is art about a black subject and anyone of any race can create it. The black subject includes people of African heritage and topics related to the history of that heritage. Given this premise, who is presently representing the black subject in fine art and what are they visually communicating through their work?

For the answer on a microcosmic level, I attended the Armory Show held last week in NYC. This annual festival reputes itself as being "America's leading fine art fair devoted to the most important art of the 20th and 21st centuries". Over 300 galleries from all across the world had booths showing more than 2,000 pieces of art. I surveyed each exhibit, taking five hours, to find the art that featured black subjects. My curiosity was tiered: how popular is blackness as a subject, what are artists saying when they do make black the subject and which galleries have opted to represent this work at such a major showcase?

Well, I came across approximately 60 pieces of art out of the thousands. Over the next few days, I will post the images and the names of the artists who made them. It was an exciting experiment, just discovering new work and seeing the different dialogues about the black subject emerge.
Here are the first 20 pieces.

by Kehinde Wiley, one of my favorite contemporary artists

by Titus Kaphar

by Luigi Ontani

by Zwelethu Mthethwa

by Ken Lum

by Will Ryman

by Corneille

by Ulrich Lamfuss

by Romare Bearden

by Chuck Close

by Romare Bearden

by Romare Bearden

by Helen van Meene

by Beauford Delaney

by Benny Andrews

by William H. Johnson

by Benny Andrews

by Benny Andrews

by Benny Andrews

by Ed Paschke

Something to note is the high percentage of work by men. Regardless of race, male artists receive more exposure than female artists. Also notable is the general sobriety of the art. While this is just a third of the pieces, you will see in the following posts that much of the art addressing a black subject is serious, carrying an unsettling weight. Few pieces are upbeat and whimsy but this is not the trend.

I have 40 more images to share. While I have made a case study of the Armory Show, I do not believe that it is the end-all in terms of demonstrating the best in contemporary art. There are some amazing artists out there struggling to have their worked viewed on a larger platform. One of the objectives of FAIM Internet Magazine is to represent culture and creativity, from the margins to the mainstream, so readers please post links to your sites if you also represent black art. It would be great to have this dialogue continue on a broader level.

Until then, check back tomorrow for "Who's Representing the Black Subject?-Part Two" where I will also list some of the galleries that support black art.