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Represent: 200 Years Of African American Art Opens On January 10th & Runs Until April 5th At The Philadelphia Museum Of Art.
Represent: 200 Years Of African American Art Opens On January 10th & Runs Until April 5th At The Philadelphia Museum Of Art.

Visual Culture: 'Represent: 200 Years of African American Art' Opens In Philly [1/10]

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Represent: 200 Years Of African American Art opens January 10th at The Philadelphia Museum Of Art featuring the works of Henry Ossawa Tanner, Horace Pippin, Jacob Lawrence, Carrie Mae Weems and other notable artists. The museum celebrates the growth and breadth of their collection of works by African American artists with an exhibition that boasts pieces from several generations and eras. Represent runs through April 5th, 2015 and will feature works in a variety of mediums that span over a century of collecting and explore topics relevant to the African American experience. The Philadelphia Museum Of Art offers an enticing description of their collection ahead of the launch:

From compelling stories to innovative methods, Represent explores the evolving ways in which African American artists have expressed personal, political, and racial identity. It begins with rare examples of fine and decorative arts made in the 1800s by free and enslaved individuals such as a large storage jar by the accomplished potter David Drake. As access to artistic training and opportunities increased, the relationship between creative expression and identity grew more complex and nuanced. In the early twentieth century, artists like William Henry Johnson and Elizabeth Catlett embraced modernism by representing personal experiences or scenes of daily life in vibrant colors and dynamic compositions.

In the exhibition, abstract paintings and sculpture from the 1960s through the 1980s by Barbara Chase-Riboud, Martin Puryear, and others show a desire to balance cultural and artistic identities, challenging the idea that work by African Americans should be viewed in primarily racial terms. By contrast, many artists working in the 1990s and since, Glenn Ligon and Lorna Simpson among them, have used pictures and text to examine the past and make pointed statements about race. Represent culminates by stepping outside historical narrative to present an array of portraits by several generations of artists, from those active over a century ago to those making work today.

Check out the video below to get more on Represent: 200 Years of African American Art. Scroll down for museum admission and event details. Get more on Represent and The Philadelphia Museum Of Art at philamuseum.org.

Represent: 200 Years of African American Art

When: January 10-April 5, 2015

Where: Philadelphia Museum of Art (2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway)

Cost: Included with museum admission