Black Lives Matter. But Do They in the Art World?

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*

why hello there The Bossy Mealz Newsletter link to past newsletters and to subscribe Black Lives Matter As a Twin Cities native, there was something strikingly personal about the death of George Floyd.  And yet as a white person, I cannot begin to understand the effects of systematic racism on African Americans here in this country.  Regardless of each individual organization's recent response, I know in my heart the art world is a racist place.  I'd like to use my voice this week to promote the work of artists of color, link to media created by artists of color and provide information on artists of color in the art world. Top: Faith Ringgold's American People Series #20: Die  was acquired by MOMA in 2016 and in the new thematic installation hangs across from Picasso's Les Demoiselles d’Avignon which is the museum's most controversial juxtaposition Left: Glenn Ligon Untitled (I Feel Most Colored When I Am Thrown Against a Sharp White Background)  Right: David Hammons' African-American Flag sold for $2,050,000 in 2017. The Art World Responds--is it enough? There has been a range of responses from the art world, with many museums claims of standing with the Black Lives Matter movement called into question by their historical behavior:  A number of museums, nationwide and internationally, in stating their support for the black lives matter movement or their commitment to being anti-racist, were called out for their racist behavior by former staff, such as SFMOMA and The Guggenheim in New York.  The British Museum was called out for hypocrisy considering their collection is made up of many artworks from Africa--unless they plan to return them to their country of origin.   I searched far and wide for art market data on works sold by African American artists and was only able to find a study done in 2018 by Art Agency Partners. From 2008-2018, according to their findings, just 2.37% of all acquisitions and gifts and 7.7% of all exhibitions at 30 prominent US museums have been of work by African American artists.  I was unable to find a more broad data set on the market for African American artists. As there has been a much more demand for their work at auction and numerous price records have been set in the past few years, I think the numbers may be improving much better there than at museums, though likely no where near where they should be. Recommended Reading Books for kids and young adults: This is What I Know About Art by Kimberly Drew aka @museumammy  Life Doesn't Frighten Me poem by Maya Angelou with artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat All of Faith Ringgold's books for children, with Tar Beach being her most famous The Studio Museum in Harlem features lesson plans for families to talk about art and create their own-also love the coloring pages.  Art historical books for adults: I found a great list of 13 coffee table books either by or about black artists that was better than anything I could create.   David Hammons: Bliz-aard Ball Sale tracks down the elusive artist's single day snowball sale in New York Culture Type is a website devoted to art by people of African descent and I have found it to be the single best resource for books, market data and news online. I'd really like an art historian to write an Introductory Art History textbook similar to Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States so anything I can do to make this happen, I'm in! Questions Remaining How does a mostly white collecting community respond?  Is collecting artworks by artists of color, especially if they do not benefit the artist, just continue a trend of systematic exploitation?  Left: Titus Kaphur's TIME Magazine cover: "One Black mother’s loss WILL be memorialized. This time I will not let her go." Please send any further recommended reading my way Copyright © 2020 Bossy Mealz Inc. All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.