Together, these artists remind viewers of the ways racism is reflected in our commercial products. Smokin’ Joe Ain’t J'Mama (1978), by Hank Willis Thomas. Old Times There Are Not Forgotten: Historical Representations of Race in the South and Beyond examines why and how artists depicted African Americans, from the Civil War to the Great Depression.īlack Like Me: African American Portraits looks at how white artists depicted black subjects in 20th-century American portraiture.īrown Skin Ladies: Picturing the Black Woman illustrates how American artists, both male and female, represent African American women.īody and Soul: Rhythmic Representations presents depictions of black musicians, and looks at how black artists use music as a painterly technique.įrom Mammy and Mose to Madison Avenue: Advertising and the Black Image examines how black people and black culture are represented in commercial culture.Īltogether, Black Like Who? presents 28 works by 19 artists to show just how fundamental iterations of race are to the American experience.įor example, the section “From Mammy and Mose to Madison Avenue” exhibits photographs by Sheila Pree Bright, Hank Willis Thomas and David Levinthal. The show doesn’t claim to be an exhaustive examination of depictions of blackness in American art, but it does illuminate areas of American visual culture where blackness has been prominently defined. The exhibit also takes into account the motives and beliefs of the artists, both black and white. The exhibit Black Like Who?, comprising works from the Birmingham Museum of Art’s permanent collection and private collectors, considers how political, cultural and aesthetic interests influence the artistic representations of black people and black culture at particular historical moments. They’ve resisted the ways whites often mythologized or satirized blackness, and have presented counter images: works of art that depict or comment on how we visualize our culture and ourselves. The collection preserves a unique record of this important designer's personal and professional career from the 1960s through to 1995.But African Americans have pushed back. Many of the pieces sold through the shop are included in the collection as well as signage, programmes and videos of the lively parades she and Linda Jackson produced. Kee then opened her Flamingo Park' 'frock salon' in the Strand Arcade in Sydney selling her own designs as well as the work of other innovative designers like Linda Jackson, Peter Tully (1947-1992) and David McDiarmid (1952-1995). She returned to Australia in the early 1970s and attracted by the encouraging cultural climate of the new Whitlam led Labor government, decided to stay. In the 1960s, she, like many other young Australians, spent several years enjoying the creative atmosphere of 'Swinging London'. An early newspaper clipping shows her modelling as the face of Canadian Airlines. Kee was born in Bondi, to a Cantonese businessman father and Italian/British mother. The collection and archive not only records Jenny Kee's life and work, but also can be read as a document that charts important cultural changes in Australia. 1950), original artwork for many of Kee's designs, business records, newspaper and magazine clippings, videos of parades, parade invitations, props and programmes, shop mannequins, shop signs, scrapbooks and posters. The collection and archive document her life and work over twenty years and includes clothing and textiles by Jenny Kee as well as Kee's business partner Linda Jackson (b. They document the evolution of her clothing and textile designs, the creative process behind her designs, the development and management of her retail outlets Flamingo Park and Jenny Kee, the significant role she played in environmental activism in Australia and her public profile as a celebrity artist with-in the advertising industry. The Jenny Kee collection and archive was acquired by the museum in 19. Her garments are a canvas for her artwork featuring images of native flora and fauna, the opal gem stone and urban icons like the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House. One major theme links all aspects of this collection, Jenny Kee's love of Australia's unique natural environment. Jenny Kee (born Sydney 1947) is one of Australia's most important designers, best known for designing and retailing a unique range of colourful clothing and knitwear. Jenny Kee collection of clothing, textiles, artwork and archive, Australia/England/Japan/Africa/USA 1967-1995
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