Reckoning

Description

This important book showcases the potent role of visual art in African American history and culture. Featuring Black artists working in a range of media, from photography to sculpture to painting—including Amy Sherald, Benny Andrews, Sheila Pree Bright, Bisa Butler, Charles Alston, Elizabeth Catlett, Shaun Leonardo, and David Hammons, to name just a few—the book considers art that exemplifies resilience in times of conflict, as well as the ritual of creation, and the defiant pleasure of healing.

Reckoning, based on the exhibition of the same name at the National Museum of African American History & Culture (NMAAHC), explores the ongoing struggles Black Americans have faced in their pursuit to enjoy the fundamental rights and freedoms promised in the Constitution to citizens of the United States. Drawn from the museum's permanent collection, the featured works respond to the dual crises of COVID-19 and systemic racism that shaped 2020, a period that has been called one of reckoning, as the world witnessed the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other African Americans, leading to some of the largest protests in U.S. history. - Smithsonian 

Contributors: Aaron Bryant is curator of photography at NMAAHC. Bisa Butler is a textile artist. Michelle D. Commander is deputy director at NMAAHC. Tuliza Fleming is curator of visual arts at NMAAHC. Amy Sherald is a painter and portraitist. Deborah Willis is University Professor and chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging at Tisch School of the Arts.

Foreword by Kevin Young, Andrew W. Mellon Director of NMAAHC

 224 pages, 150 color illustrations, hardcover