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For years, African-American women have fought for their civil rights, political rights, and equality in the United States. As artists, their struggle continues as they attempt to have their work recognized in gallery exhibitions, publications, and overall recognition in a predominately white male art world. African-American women have been creating work since American Slavery and continue to make work today often which depicts the struggles of the past and the present day. Artists such as Kara Walker, Augusta Savage, and Edmonia Lewis are only a few of the many contributors to the history and and fight for African-American visual artists.

Statistics

Although women account for 51% of the art world, their work only makes up 3-5% of permanent collections in United States art museums. In the United States, women earn 5 of MFAs; however, only 30% recieve representation in commerical art galleries. In the list of the top 100 individual artworks sold, only 2 were women and 75 of the works were created by the same 5 men artists. In the Venice Biennale, women make up very few of the represented artists. In 2009, women made up 43% of the work; in 2013, 36%; in 2015, 33%; and in 2017, 35% of the work.

History

American Slavery

African-American women have been creating art since slavery in antebellum America. Despite the harsh conditions and deep racism and dehumanization in the American South, African-American women perservered to create works of art.

Harriet Powers

Harriet Powers made quilts that depicted Biblical and historical events.

Edmonia Lewis

Edmonia Lewis was a sculptor during the Civil War and Reconstruction whose work includes busts of Robert Gould Shaw and Abraham Lincoln. She also created many large sculptures which have recently gained more attention and prestige in the art world.

The Harlem Renaissance

During the Harlem Renaissance, the amount of art by African-Americans increased profoundly. Some black female artists who contributed to the Harlem Renaissance include Meta Warrick Fuller, Augusta Savage and Lois Mailou Jones.

Meta Warrick Fuller

Meta Warrick Fuller was an abstract artist who was well known for her large scale, vibarantly colored work. She was encouraged to pursue abstract art at Howard University by her arts professor Lois Mailou Jones. She graduated and became the university's first fine arts graduate in 1924. She later became a teacher to assist and support herself financially. She first presented her artwork at age 75 at Howard University in their 1966 art exhibition.

Augusta Savage

Augusta Savage was a sculptor and an arts educator who is considered one of the leading artists of the Harlem Renaissance. She, at first, had financial struggles and failed to establish herself in Jacksonville, Florida. She then went on to attend Cooper Union where she excelled graduating in 3 rather than 4 years. She then created her renouned sculpture busts of prominent African-American figures including W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey.

Lois Mailou Jones

Lois Mailou Jones was a painter born in Boston, Massachusetts. She was inspired to become a painter by sculptor Meta Warrick Fuller. This influenced her ot create work dedicated to Africa and the Harlem Renaissance. She later went to live abroad and create work bout her travels which included Haiti and France. She was the longest living artist from the Harlem Renaissance and died at the age of 98.

Laura Wheeler Waring

Laura Wheeler Waring was a painter and educator who painted well known African-American figures. Her most famous works include the paintings depicting W.E.B. DuBois and Marian Anderson. She later became a member of the NAACP and created illustrations for the organizations magazines.

Nancy Elizabeth Prophet

Nancy Elizabeth Prophet was an African American sculptor and arts professor at Spelman College and later Atlanta University. She studied in Paris, France and later won the Herman Foundation prize. SHe also participated in group exhibitions for the Herman Foundation and the Whitney Sculpture Biennial. She died unsung and in obscurity.

The Civil Rights Movement

In the Civil Rights Movement, African-Americans were active in the fight for civil and political rights as American citizens. This influenced many black artists to create work that reflected the events of the 1960s. Some African-American female visual artists of the Civil Rights Movement include Elizabeth Catlett and Alma Woodsey Thomas.

Elizabeth Catlett

Elizabeth Catlett was a sculptor and printmaker who enrolled at Howard University and was taught by artist Lois Mailou Jones. She crated artwork depicting subjects from African-American history including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and black power symbols. She later also created work of subjects depicting Mexican life and culture. She did not recieve notariety until she was much older and later was included many exhibitions in museums and galleries.

Alma Woodsey Thomas

Alma Woodsey Thomas was an African-American sculptor who created works of sculptural realism. She created many pieces dedicated to American historical and current events based on African-American struggles and the fight for equality. She also created a series of artwork dedicated as a tribute to the Civil Rights Movement. She died in 1968 at 90 years old.

Emma Amos

Emma Amos was the only female and youngest member of Spiral Collective,1963 group of African-Ameircan artists during Civil Rights Movement who met weekly to discuss role of black artists during this time. She was eventually asked to join after they had seen her work, which male members were not asked to do. Many pieces of her work depicts the isolation she experienced in Spiral and the art world as a black female artist.

Dinga McCannon

Dinga McCannon invited grop of black women in her home to Brooklyn and founded Where We At (WWA) Collective -WWA: first professional exhibit of black women visual artists-show opened in Acts of Art Gallery in New York's West Village

Betye Saar

Betye Sarr created work inspired by Black Power Movement and black feminism.

Faith Ringgold

Faith Ringgold is an African-American artist and author known for her quilt artwork. A member of the early WWA, her work depicts issues of gender and race in America.

Barbara Chase Riboud

Barbara Chase Riboud is a žmixed media artist best known for her abstract sculpture series the “Malcolm X” sculptures.

Present

Today, black women are beginning to recieve some recognition in the art world such as Kara Walker and Lorna Simpson.One of the many challenges black women have faced, and still face, is their depiction in art. Black women are often depicted based on racial and gender stereotypes and archetypes such as "Mammy", a jovial, loyal, and maternal slave woman, and "Jezebel", a voluptuous, overly-sexualized black woman. African-American women challenge these stereotypes through their work and accomplishments in the art world. In the 21st century, African-American women use these archetypes to combat these ideas and beliefs.

Kara Walker

Kara Walker is an African American artist best known for her narrative work depicting sihlouettes of figures from antebellum America. She is also known for her piece "A Subtely, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby" was a massive, ephemeral sugar sculpture of "Mammy" in the shape of the sphix. The piece was created and exhibited in the old Domino sugar factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This emphemeral piece challenged racism, the "Mammy" archetype, and slavery, as slaves were forced to pick sugar cane for sugar production in the south.

Lorna Simpson

Lorna Simpson is an African-American photographer whose work challenges racial and gender challenges through visual imagery. Many of her works are narrative pieces, one of which she is best known is her work that depicts African-American women hairstyles and textures.

Carrie Mae Weems

Carrie Mae Weems is a contemporary artist whose work focuses on social and political issues as well as other ethical problems including race, class, and gender.

Senga Nengundi

Senga Nengundi created personal narrative, anthropormorphous renderings, work often used in performance artwork as props based on race and gender issues.

Mickaline Thomas

Mickaline Thomas is a painter and photographer who is best known for bedazzling her painted work with rhinestones.

African-American Female Visual Art Groups

Combahee River Collective (CRC)

The Combahee River Collective is a black feminist organization. In 1977, Heresies Colective, a predominately white female organization formed to raise consiciousness about race and gender issues, published the article "Lesbian Art and Artists" about the neglect of lesbian artists. The CRC pointed out that this article did not show or mention any lesbian women of color leading to debate between these two groups.

Where We At (WWA) Collective

Visual artist Dindga McCannon invited a group of other black female artists into her home to Brooklyn, New York. Here, she founded the Where We At (WWA) Collective. The WWA was the first professional exhibit of black women visual artists. The show opened in Acts of Art Gallery in New York's West Village. Faith Ringgold was a member of the early WWA whose work depicts issues of gender and race.