GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — February is Black History Month and the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) has several pieces from Black artists that are displayed year-round.
The African-American artists that have pieces on display range from contemporary pieces to photographs from one of the most iconic American photographers of the 20th century, Gordon Parks.
Below is a list of all of the Black artists that have pieces currently on display at the GRAM.
Mavis Pusey
Mavis Pusey was a Jamaican-born American abstract artist who was well known for her hard-edge, nonrepresentational images. Pusey was a leading abstractionist during the 1960s and 1970s when the abstract movement was dominated by male artists.
Pusey has one piece on display at the GRAM.
Paris Mai-Juin 68 (1968)
- Description: Red, black and gray
- Medium: Color screenprint on paper
- Location: Level 2, East Court
Gordon Parks
Gordon Parks was an American photographer, musician, writer and film director. He is best known for his photojournalism of issues like civil rights, poverty and African Americans. He was also the first African American to produce and direct major motion pictures and is remembered for directing the 1971 film "Shaft."
Parks has three photographs on display at the GRAM.
American Gothic (1942)
- Location: Secchia Upper Lobby Gallery
- Meduium: Gelatin silver print on paper
Man with a Straw Hat, Washington, D.C. (1942)
- Location: Secchia Upper Lobby Gallery
- Meduium: Gelatin silver print on paper
Untitled (Harlem, 135th Street at 7th Avenue) (1948)
- Location: Secchia Upper Lobby Gallery
- Meduium: Gelatin silver print on paper
Kara Walker
Kara Walker is an American contemporary painter, silhouettist, print-maker, installation artist, filmmaker and professor. Her work explores race, gender, sexuality, violence and identity. She is best known for her work with silhouettes in various mediums.
Walker has one piece on display at the GRAM.
Freedom, a Fable (1997)
- Location: Level 2 Changing Exhibition Galleries
- Medium: Bound book, with pop-up laser-cut paper silhouettes
Jacob Lawrence
Lawrence was an American painter who was known for painting African-American historical subjects and contemporary life. His modernist illustrations and narratives of African-Americans made him one of the best known twentieth-century African-American painters.
Lawrence has one piece on display at the GRAM.
"The 1920's...The Migrants Arrive and Cast Their Ballots" (1974)
- Location: TBD
- Medium: Screenprint on Domestic Etching paper
Hank Willis Thomas
Hank Willis Thomas is an American conceptual artist whose work focuses on identity, history and pop culture. Thomas is a conceptual artist works in a variety of mediums including sculptures, photography, installations and neon.
Remember Me (2014)
- Location: Level 3
- Medium: Neon
Learn more about the artists and their installations at ArtMuseumGR.org.
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