“People have a sort of mythological thinking about the arts, that, oh, it’s open and it’s free and it’s inclusive. But the art world is not,” says Earnestine Jenkins, University of Memphis art professor. “It has the same issues with exclusion of many artists who do not happen to be white, just like any other discipline or sector.” As such, many Black artists have been left out of the canon, despite their vital artistic practices which reflected and often subverted art movements of the time. As scholars work to rectify this gap in art history, the Dixon Gallery & Gardens’ latest exhibition — “Black Artists in America: From the Great Depression to Civil Rights” — brings this conversation about racism in the arts to Memphis and the Mid-South.
The exhibition of more than 50 pieces — sculptures, drawings, prints, and paintings from private and public collections in Memphis and throughout the states — chronologizes the Black artistic response to the social, economic, and political movements following the Harlem Renaissance through the 1950s. Two artists, who lived and worked in Memphis, shine in this exhibit: Vertis Hayes and Reginald Morris. Morris’ murals are on display for the first time, outside of their home at Second Congregational Church. In fact, Jenkins adds, “Most of the works in this exhibition have never been shown, not only in Memphis but in this entire region. To be able to finally see a lot of these works was a thrill even for me.”
Admission to the Dixon is free through the end of 2021.
“Black Artists in America: From the Great Depression to Civil Rights,” Dixon Gallery & Gardens, 4439 Park, On display through January 2nd.