Brooklyn Museum
2018–2019
September 14, 2018–February 3, 2019
Soul of a Nation (2019) explores how social justice movements and stylistic evolutions in visual art (such as minimalism and abstraction) were powerfully expressed in the work of artists. These artists responded to their times by provoking, confronting, and confounding expectations. Their momentum makes for an electrifying visual journey. Vibrant paintings, powerful murals, collages, photography, revolutionary clothing designs, and sculptures made with black hair, melted records, and tights; the variety of artworks reflect the many viewpoints of artists and collectives at work during these explosive times. Some engage with legendary figures from the period, with paintings in homage to political leaders Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Angela Davis, musician John Coltrane, and sporting hero Jack Johnson. Muhammad Ali appears in Andy Warhol’s famous painting.
The show opens in 1963 at the height of the Civil Rights movement and its dreams of integration. In its wake emerged more militant calls for Black Power: a rallying cry for African American pride, autonomy, and solidarity, drawing inspiration from newly independent African nations. This landmark exhibition is a rare opportunity to see era-defining artworks that changed the face of art in America.
Featured artists: Roy DeCarava, Romare Bearden, Barkley Hendricks, Noah Purifoy, Martin Puryear, Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, Alma Thomas, Charles White, and William T. Williams. This exhibition began at Tate Modern, London, and traveled to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas; Brooklyn Museum, New York; The Broad, Los Angeles; de Young Museum, San Francisco; Museum of Fine Arts Houston.
Learn more at the Brooklyn Museum.