In January, the Philadelphia Museum will open “Represent: 200 Years of African American Art,” a sprawling survey of its holdings of works by black artists. Featuring 75 artworks by over 50 artists, the show’s earliest pieces include silhouettes by Moses Williams that date to 1802, pre-Civil War decorative arts by free and enslaved artists, and potter David Drake’s bible-inscribed storage jar sculpture.
“Presenting these works together now, we are mindful of the many anniversaries of the civil rights movement that have recently passed or are soon to come, and are thinking equally about the way race remains a key topic of conversation in the United States today—in politics, society, popular culture, and, of course, the arts,” said Philadelphia Museum of Art director Timothy Rub said in a statement. “This is an important moment in which to explore the historic development and continuing growth of the Museum’s collections of African American art.”
A centerpiece of the exhibition is undoubtedly Henry Ossawa Tanner’s 1898 painting titled The Annunciation, reports the Wall Street Journal. Acquired by the museum in 1899, it was the first piece by an African American artist added to its collection. The show traces black artists through many of the major movements in American art history, from Cubism with Aaron Douglas’s Birds in Flight (1927) to Modernism with works by William Henry Johnson and Elizabeth Catlett. A combination of both can be seen in the figurative painting of Harlem Renaissance artist Jacob Lawrence.
Other, more contemporary, highlights include Barbara Chase-Riboud’s large-scale bronze and fiber sculpture Malcolm X #3, as well as pieces by Carrie Mae Weems, Glenn Ligon, Lorna Simpson, and Kara Walker.
“Represent: 200 Years of African American Art” will be on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art January 10, 2015 though April 5, 2015. (Preview a selection of artworks from the exhibition below.)
More than $1 million raised through private donations will help pay for the cameras, thus avoiding City Hall budget constraints.
Samuel L. Jackson has challenged us all to the #ICantBreatheChallenge in honor of 
Yahnick Martin (pictured) got sweet reparation from the New York City Police Department after they mistakenly slapped him with cuffs, hauled him off to jail, and had him leave his gift-filled van unattended and running on a Brooklyn street back in 2011. Now the city Law Department is reportedly forking over $50,000 to settle a federal lawsuit he filed against “New York’s finest” because the van and all of its gifts were stolen, ruining his family’s Christmas, according to the New York Daily News.
On December 23, 2011, Martin was reportedly sitting in a rented van waiting for his wife, who had dropped off a Christmas present to a friend. Martin, a real estate agent and father of three, was smoking a cigar in his van when Officer Roman Goris and a few colleagues pulled up to his vehicle. The “Men in Blue” claimed they smelled marijuana wafting in the air.
Goris asked Martin to exit the vehicle and patted him down which was a justifiable action according to court records. The officer then went a step further and removed a lighter and Martin’s wallet from his person which a judge found to be unjustifiable.
When Martin spoke his mind about the harassment he was placed in cuffs.
As the officers hauled Martin away, he begged them to please allow him to secure his van which was filled with his children’s car seats, clothing, cell phones, his wife’s purse and Christmas gifts.
Martin’s pleas fell on deaf ears.
“That’s too bad. You should have thought of that before being a smartass,” a policeman responded to Martin’s request, according to the court records, states the New York Daily News.
When the van was eventually found, it was stripped and all of its contents were stolen.
Martin was given disorderly conduct summonses which were eventually dismissed.
Meanwhile Goris was mandated by the courts to contribute $500 toward Martin’s settlement and docked eight days pay for abusing his power and conducting an unwarranted stop-and-frisk move.
article by Ruth Manuel-Logan via newsone.com
