go to France because recherché is a French word
these shows. Later, in the early 1980s, I remember
meaning “rare, much sought after.”
going to Treasures of Ancient Nigeria at the
GOLD: Since you traveled widely with Recherché
and have been to museums all over the world, you must be familiar with all sorts of painting traditions. When you were starting out as a student at PAFA and then as a young artist, were you an avid museum-goer? Did you investigate and seek out art in Philadelphia? BRANTLEY: I started going to the Philadelphia
Museum of Art when I was seven years old, but that was just the beginning of my thirst for learning about art. I have been regularly connected to museums throughout my career. I showed in the exhibition Contemporary Black Artists in America, curated by Robert Doty at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York in 1971. It was an incredible exhibition. It was picketed by artists who weren’t included, but you can’t put everybody in
Philadelphia Museum of Art. I was very impressed by it. Before that exhibition, African Americans probably didn’t go to that museum in great numbers. I can’t tell you when I’ve seen that many in the museum. It was astounding. The bronze Nubian sculptures were just jaw-dropping. MCCAY: What do think of the AAMP? Some
of the artists we’ve spoken with consider the circumstances surrounding its creation to be somewhat contentious. Many thought its original goal of representing the entire African American community of Philadelphia was outrageous because the African American community didn’t have a singular identity to be represented at the time. I don’t think any one group of people can be represented by an institution entirely. BRANTLEY: It’s more of a history museum than
a contemporary museum, so I give it a break on certain levels because it’s serving a certain segment of our society. I think there’s room for everything, but I agree with your premise—one museum can’t really serve an entire segment of culture respectfully. The AAMP is an extremely important idea; I don’t think it goes far enough, but I think it’s important. The museum is also architecturally challenging. When you enter, you walk right into a huge ramp in the center of the building, which takes up a lot of exhibition space. It’s a big ramp with nothing on it. Why? I didn’t like it then, and I like it even less now. It looks like a parking lot, and it really needs more light. A group of artists and I are trying A model of the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum (now the African American Museum in Philadelphia) is presented at a meeting of the Zoning Board of Philadelphia, February 20, 1975. Published in the Philadelphia Inquirer. (Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA)
to get some site-specific work in that space. So far we’ve been shot down, but we’re going to continue to try.
Brother James, 1968, by James Brantley (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. John Lambert Fund) Photograph courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Photograph by Lou Zacharias
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WOODMERE ART MUSEUM
WE SPEAK: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s–1970s
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