Studio magazine (Winter/Spring 2017)

Page 49

Winter/Spring 2017

48

terms of a “black aesthetic” that took inspiration from music and poetry. Another exhibition from the early 70s that took place in the loft space was Impact Africa in 1970, which examined the effect African art had on modern and contemporary art movements in the West. Impact Africa featured the works of LeRoy Clarke, Ray Grist and Ademola Olugebefola, as well as works by Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. My final choice here is an image from the opening reception of Harlem Artists ’69. The man pictured is dressed in the fashions of the day, indicative of the celebration of blackness taking place globally during that time period. The exhibition featured more than a hundred works and sought to bring young black artists together in the Harlem community. The exhibition challenged the prevailing practice of mainstream institutions excluding artists of color, and emphatically asserted the place of black artists working, creating and contributing to culture. This exhibition set the precedent for the Studio Museum as the destination for contemporary art by black artists.

Opening of Harlem Artists '69, 1969 Top: Opening of Impact Africa, 1970 Previous: Africobra II. Exhibition catalog. New York: Studio Museum in Harlem, 1971.

1. Edward S. Spriggs, “AFRICOBRA: an intermediarily pro.position,” AfriCobra II, 1971.


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