For Immediate Release
Jessica Hunter-Larsen
(719) 227-8263
jhunterlarsen@coloradocollege.edu
Leslie Weddell
(719) 389-6038
leslie.weddell@coloradocollege.edu"
New exhibition at IDEA Space features Black Women Artists’ challenges to culturally pervasive controlling images
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Beginning on March 28 and running through May 16, 2017, the Interdisciplinary arts program (IDEA) at Colorado College presents the exhibition Beyond Mammy, Jezebel and Sapphire: Reclaiming Images of Black Women. The exhibition will take place at IDEA Space, located in the Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center 825 N. Cascade Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
Curated jointly by the IDEA and the Alexandria Museum of Art (Alexandria, Louisiana) from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation, Beyond Mammy, Jezebel, & Sapphire features images of and by Black women that examine and interrogate culturally constructed controlling images of Black women. From the suffering mama, to the stoic victim, to the sassy broad – the images presented in the exhibition question and overturn entrenched archetypes of Black femininity. The artists featured in the exhibition include: Romare Howard Bearden; Robert H. Colescott; Ellen Gallagher; Mildred Howard; Wangechi Mutu; Alison Saar; Lorna Simpson; Mickalene Thomas; Kara Walker. According to a Huffington Post review of the exhibition at its debut in Alexandria, the exhibition “deconstructs the limiting categorizations mainstream culture allows black women. The artists on view reveal the shoddy nature of the stereotypes in favor of challenging, poetic and thorough visualizations of black culture ― the myth, the archetype, the self-portrait and beyond.” Huffington Post Exhibition Review
A 40-page, lavishly illustrated catalog accompanies the exhibition and will be available for purchase. The publication includes essays from twelve scholars and artists with diverse personal and disciplinary backgrounds.
Exhibition Events: **All events are free and open to the public
Tuesday, March 28, 4:30 – 6pm: Opening Reception
IDEA Space
Featuring a poetry performance by Sha’Condria “Icon” Sibley and a panel discussion with Claudine Taaffe (Vanderbilt University) Heidi R. Lewis (Colorado College) and Jessica Lynne (Co-Editor of Arts.Black).
- Sha’Condria “Icon” Sibley: Artist, educator, and poet; founding member of the 2010 and 2012 Southern Fried Regional Poetry Slam runner-up, the 2010 National Poetry Slam Group Piece Champion, and a member of the 2012 National Poetry Slam Championship team, Team SNO (Slam New Orleans)
- Heidi R. Lewis, PhD: Assistant Professor and Associate Director of Feminist and Gender Studies at Colorado College. She currently serves as the Associate Editor for The Feminist Wire. Her work primarily focuses on Feminist Theory, Critical Race Theory, and Critical Media Studies.
- Claudine Taaffe, PhD: Senior Lecturer in African American & Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt University. Her research examines the ways in which African American girls, create identity and community through the creative arts.
- Jessica Lynne is a Brooklyn-based arts administrator and critic. She contributes to publications such as Art in America, The Art Newspaper, The Brooklyn Rail, Hyperallergic, and Pelican Bomb. She's co-editor of ARTS.BLACK, a journal of art criticism from Black perspectives, and a founding editor of Zora Magazine. Currently, Jessica serves as the Manager of Development and Communication at Recess.
Wednesday, March 29, 6-7pm
Innovative Minds: Art Criticism for a New Generation: Creating ARTS.BLACK
A Lecture by Jessica Lynne, Co-Editor of ARTS.BLACK
Flex Room
ARTS.BLACK is a journal of art criticism from Black perspectives predicated on the belief that art criticism should be an accessible dialogue - a tool through which we question, celebrate, and talk back to the global world of contemporary art.
Presented by Innovation at CC
Thursday, March 30, 5 – 7:30 pm
Film Screening: NO!: The Rape Documentary + Conversation with Aishah Shihidah Simmons
Location TBD
The film No!: The Rape Documentary will be screened followed by a conversation with filmmaker Aishah Shihidah Simmons. The film was released in 2006 addresses issues of rape and sexual assault. Simmons is is an award-winning Black feminist lesbian documentary filmmaker, activist, cultural worker, writer, and international lecturer.
Tuesday, May 9
Cornerstone Arts Center
- 4:30 – 5:30pm: Public Reception
Featuring a presentation of research and exhibit text by students in Black Feminist Theory
- 6 – 7pm: “Baby Mamas, Beloved, and True Motherhood: Reclaiming Images of Black Women”, a lecture by Venetria Patton
Cornerstone Arts Center Film Screening Room
Dr. Patton is Head of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Professor of English and African American Studies, Purdue University.
About the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation: At age 14, Jordan D. Schnitzer bought his first work of art from his mother’s Portland, Oregon contemporary art gallery, evolving into his lifelong avocation as collector. He began collecting contemporary prints and multiples in earnest in 1988. Today, the collection exceeds 10,000 works and includes many of today’s most important contemporary artists. It has grown to be one of the country’s largest private print collections overall. He generously lends work from his collection to qualified institutions and has organized over 100 exhibitions at more than 100 museums. Mr. Schnitzer is also President of Harsch Investment Properties, a privately owned real estate investment company based in Portland, Oregon, with over 24 million square feet of office, multi-tenant industrial, multi-family and retail properties in six western states. For more information about the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, please visit www.jordanschnitzer.org.
About IDEA Space: IDEA Space is located in the Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center on the Colorado College campus, 825 N. Cascade Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO. Regular gallery hours are Monday – Friday, 1 – 6pm; Saturday 1 – 5pm. For more information about exhibits and events, visit www.theIDEAspace.com. Exhibitions are offered free to the public.
About Colorado College: Colorado College is a nationally prominent, four-year liberal arts college that was founded in Colorado Springs in 1874. The college operates on the innovative Block Plan, in which its 1,975 undergraduate students study one course at a time in intensive 3½-week blocks. The college also offers a master of arts in teaching degree. For more information, visit www.ColoradoCollege.edu . For directions or disability accommodation at the event, members of the public may call (719) 389-6607.