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July 13 - September 8, 2002
LOOKING FORWARD, LOOKING BLACK
Sponsored by Fifth Third Bank, the W.A. Chryst Fund of The Dayton Foundation and the Gretchen W. "Jinx" Fensel Fund of The Dayton Foundation, this exhibition was organized by Jo Anna Isaak, an independent curator.
LOOKING FORWARD, LOOKING BLACK illustrates how American
artists have confronted the image of the African American in the United
States and the social and political issues surrounding their representation.
This thought-provoking and challenging exhibition reflects upon how various
cultures and generations have chosen to represent the black body over
the century. LOOKING FORWARD, LOOKING BLACK examines what it feels like
to 
be
in the black body as well as how that body appears and looks forward to
a different picture of the diasporic black peoples being formed in the
new millennium.
Included in the exhibition are racist ephemera created between 1880 and 1950, Black Power artwork from the 1960s and 1970s, as well as contemporary works based on historical antecedents. Exhibiting artists include Cedric Adams, Elizabeth Catlett, Jeff Donaldson, Charles White, Michael Ray Charles, Renee Cox, Robert Colescott, Lyle Ashton Harris, Beverly McIver and Kara Walker.
The work in the show is a reaction to and exploration of the African American image during slavery and its legacy, through struggle for emancipation and civil rights, and as it exists within the sometimes hidden vestiges of racism today.
Among the 75 works included are several on loan from local artist Willis "Bing" Davis, Drs. John and Barbara Fleming, and the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce, Ohio. The Dayton Art Institute's expanded version of LOOKING FORWARD, LOOKING BLACK was organized by its Assistant Curator of American Art, Tuliza Fleming. These added loans provide a richer context for the show and offer greater learning opportunities for the viewer.