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Women Artists Of Color Take Their Show On The Road

Women Artists Of Color Take Their Show On The Road image
Parent Issue
Month
January
Year
1990
Copyright
Creative Commons (Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-alike)
Rights Held By
Agenda Publications
OCR Text

"People want to see art that reflects the American social stew." - Faith Ringgold "People of color will shape the art of the 1990s," said artist/activist Faith Ringgold at her talk " Voices of Women of Color" on Nov. 13. 'To date, left out of the mainstream, people of color will take their place," said Ringgold. "People want to see art that reflects the American social stew."

Ringgold said all artists need to guard against lack of opportunity to show work, get grants, be exhibited or be written about. But these problems get compounded when the artist is of color or a woman. "Women don't get shown as much as men. And, when they are in shows with men, they are subdued," said Ringgold. For this reason in April 1987 Ringgold, the National Caucus for the Arts vice president for minority affairs, and four other women got together to create a show for women of color.

At that meeting Ringgold introduced the idea of having a show of artists' books. She believed that this format would créate a dialogue between women of color from coast to coast. As curator Ringgold arrarvged gallery space and sent out invitations to artists across the country. The show "Coast to Coast: Women of Color National Artists' Book Project" opened in Houston at the 1988 National Caucus for the Arts conference. The show was on display at U-M's Jean Paul Slusser Gallery from Nov. 1 to 22.

Ringgold defines an artist's book as "a kind of collection of ideas." The format for the show was fairly loose. "The books could be material ideas, paper, writings, techniques. They could be bound or not bound. Any form you like with a 12-inch by inch outer size limit so as not to be too big and heavy to be shippable."

Ringgold said she encouraged artists to collaborate, believing that collaboration would bring a group of women together to stay together. "Collaboration helps you stretch to a place you can't get by yourself. If you want music, collaborate with a musician. Always work with someone you admire and respect. It accelerates your development."

When pieces started coming in Ringgold said she was "floored" by their creativity and by the artists' lack of self-consciousness about the books being books. "The women had gone ahead and taken that book and stretched it," she said. "No authoritarian tradition held them back."

As a group Ringgold said "the covers of the books are separate from the inside, two works of art."Many of the women made containers for their books. Many books have to do with secrets, or magic, or being a mother. Many are accordions. Some of the collaborations were between women of different generations, like one between an aunt and a niece. Some of the books are political in nature, others more personal.

One book is a hanging split gourd with wordless pages inside, another several long story scrolls. "Album for the Homeless," is a book of stenciled items homeless people no longer possess, like a hanger, a toilet, a house key.Howadina Pindell's. "Art Crow Jim Crow" lists statistics of artists of color in New York galleries with Jim Crow signs from the South. Lisa Yih shares family secrets in . "Kim Chee and Rice," a quilted book about her father who loves the pickled Korean dish kim chee, and the memories connected with food or lack of it.

Ringgold said women must go back to the source of their culture to get the inspiration to take it further. "An artist needs ideas more than anything. Being a Black woman in America, that's one hell of an idea!"

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