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Queens, Gods, and Devotees

Curated by Susanna W. Gold, PhD

Sept 26 - Dec 15, 2024

Frances M. Maguire Art Museum
at St. Joseph's University
50 Lapsley Lane  |  Merion, PA

ARTIST'S PANEL:

Curator Susanna Gold in conversation with

Tyler Ballon, Lavett Ballard, & Claes Gabriel
​Thurs, Nov. 7, 5:30-7:00pm

​

Featuring over 30 paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, and fiber works from ca. 1900 to the present, Queens, Gods, and Devotees foregrounds earthly and divine greatness, and their associated devotional objects and ritual practices. Spanning continents, cultures, and eras, many of these images of exalted figures and concepts related to spirituality and worship are specific to the Black American experience, or are re-imagined in a Black cultural context. References to Greek mythology, the Judeo-Christian tradition, ancient cultures, and traditional African spiritual practices appear alongside one another, offering viewers the opportunity to find parallels and distinctions in how greatness, power, and majesty have been represented in African American art, as well as how reverence and veneration have been envisioned.

 

Celebrated figures from the Bible as well as powerful religious and mythological figures derived from African and ancient traditions appear throughout the galleries. Contemporary Black men and women are often elevated as sacred in their daily lives, or are engaged in spiritual practices derived from a range of African and ancient traditions. In several of the works on view, the visual language of abstraction addresses ancient African spiritual systems, the cosmos, and the afterlife, or communicates perspectives on culture and history, which are often intertwined with notions of prayer and worship. The wide variety of cultures, histories, and traditions that these artists collectively draw upon in their work calls attention to the universality of devotional human experience across time and place.

The exhibition includes 20th-c and 21st-c work by artists including:

Lavett Ballard

​Tyler Ballon

Richmond Barthé

Romare Bearden

Sharif Bey

John Biggers

Barbara Bullock

Margaret Burroughs

Tawny Chatmon

Ralph Chessé

Kevin Cole

Willie Cole

​Morel Doucet

Walter Edmonds

​Awol Erizku

Palmer Hayden

Claes Gabriel

Curlee Holton

Margo Humphrey

​​Imo Nse Imeh

Fabiola Jean-Louis

​Ashley Rivers​​​​

Tokie Rome-Taylor

Betye Saar

​Kevin Blythe Sampson

Sterling Shaw

Shinique Smith

Henry Ossawa Tanner

Stephen Towns

​LeRone Wilson

Selections in Queens, Gods, and Devotees are drawn entirely from the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art. The PFF Collection is a targeted initiative to bring focus to the full range of African American visual creativity and its essential place in the history and discourse of American Art. As part of a growing and thoughtful dialogue about the African American experience through art, the PFF Collection seeks to visually represent a cross-section of themes that speak not only to the African American community, but also the broader American community. Established in 2006, the PFF Collection grew to several hundred works under the guidance of founding Director Berrisford Boothe working in conjunction with the Petrucci Family. The vision of Claudia Volpe, the PFF Collection’s current Director, has continued to shape the collection as it expands and reaches new audiences through loans and exhibitions. 

For more information about the exhibition or questions about any of the art:

Claes Gabriel
"Queen of Time," 2016
acrylic on shaped canvas, 49" x 36" x 12"

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