The catalogue for The Blues Aesthetic: Black Culture and Modernism, an exhibition curated by Richard Powell, Washington Project for the Arts, 1990
In addition to Powell, the catalogue includes essays by John Cephas, Dwight D. Andrews, Eleanor W. Traylor, E. Ethelbert Miller, John Michael Vlach, Kellie Jones, Sherill Berryman-Miller, Jeffrey Stewart, and Joseph A. Brown: Folded card: Size: 8.5 x 11 inches
As we searched our inventory for something special for Black History Month, the catalogue for Richard Powell’s 1989 exhibition The Blues Aesthetic: Black Culture and Modernism provided the necessary inspiration. For Powell, now a leading scholar of African American art and a professor at Duke University, the exhibition marked an auspicious curatorial debut. His goal was not only to distill what he thought was unique about African American art, but also to show the broad influence it was already having on global modernism.
The term “Blues Aesthetic” was key. To refer to art produced by black artists as “Afro-American art” (the prevalent term at the time) was inherently isolating since it was entirely defined by race. In contrast, the phrase “Blues Aesthetic” refers to a black cultural tradition that was not only dominant in black communities, but was also already widely embraced by non-African-Americans. Powell’s exhibition was multi-racial with black artists taking the lead.
To quote Powell: “The term “blues” is an appropriate designation for this idea because of its associations with one of the most identifiable black American traditions that we know. Perhaps more than any other designation, the idea of a blues aesthetic situates the discourse squarely on: 1) art produced in our time; 2) creative expressions that emulate artists who are empathetic with Afro-American issues and ideals; 3) work that identifies with grassroots, popular, and/or mass black American culture; 4) art that has an affinity with Afro-U.S. as music and/or rhythms; and 5) artists and/or artistic statements whose raison d’être is humanistic.”Offering popular women’s necklaces such as pendants, https://www.swisswatch.is/product-category/richard-mille/rm-055/ chokers and. Shop for jewelry in a variety of metals and gemstones to suit any occasion.
Taking our lead from Powell’s catalogue, Gallery 98 has assembled from our inventory a collection of ephemera connected to artists that were part of The Blues Aesthetic exhibition as well as others whose work is related.
James Van Der Zee (1886 – 1983)
Carrie Mae Weems
Carrie Mae Weems, The Hampton Project, Williams College Museum of Art, Two-Fold Card, 2000
The Hampton Project is Weems's response to images of the Hampton National and Agricultural Institute created by Frances Benjamin in 1900, and to life at Hampton University today: Two-Fold Card: Size: 7 x 14 inches
$125
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Bob Thompson (1937 – 1966)
Bob Thompson, Fantastic Visions, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, 24-Page Catalogue, 1998
24-Page Catalogue: Size: 8.5 x 11 inches
$100
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Robert Colescott (1925 – 2009)
Robert Colescott, The Collector (Tea for Two), Semaphore Gallery, Card, 1980
Card: Size: 4.25 x 6 inches
$125
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Dawoud Bey
Dawoud Bey & Birney Imes III, Poster, Blue Sky Gallery (Oregon), 1986
Poster: Size: 15 x 20 inches
$250
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Marilyn Nance
Marilyn Nance, Religion: African American Spiritual Expressions, 12-Page Handout, Robert B. Menschel Photography Gallery (Syracuse), 1990
12-Page Handout: Size: 8.5 x 8.5 inches
$100
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Alison Saar
Alison Saar, ‘New Icons’, Monique Knowlton Gallery, Card, 1986
Card: Size: 4.25 x 6 inches
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Miles Davis (1926 – 1991)
Miles Davis, Paintings, Nerlino Gallery, 3 Fold Brochure, 1991
3-Fold Brochure: Size: 8.5 x 16.5 inches
$150
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Herman Leonard (1923 – 2010)
Herman Leonard, Images Of Jazz, Brent Sikkema Fine Art Gallery, Card, c. Mid 1980s
Card: Size: 4.25 x 6 inches
$100
Chuck Stewart (1927 – 2017)
William P. Gottlieb and Chuck Stewart, Jazz is My Beat, Two-Fold Card, Flushing Town Hall, 1996
Chuck Stewart, Horace Silver (1961), from the exhibition Jazz is My Beat: Photographs by William P. Gottlieb and Chuck Stewart: Card: Size: 5 x 7 inches
$100
Emma Amos (1937 – 2020)
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Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960 – 1988)
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The Blues Aesthetic at The Studio Museum in Harlem
The Blues Aesthetic: Black Culture and Modernism, Group Show curated by Richard Powell, with Archibald Motley Jr. (Cover), Aaron Douglas, Roy de Carava, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Martin Wong, and others, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Three-Fold Pamphlet with Exhibition Checklist, 1990
The exhibition originated at the Washington Project for the Arts, Washington DC, and traveled to the California Afro-American Museum, Duke University Museum of Art, Blaffer Gallery (University of Houston, TX), and the Studio Museum in Harlem: Pamphlet: Size: 7 x 11 inches
$150
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