(Above) Kara Walker, 8 Possible Beginnings or: The Creation of African-America, a Moving Picture by Kara E Walker (2005). © the artist, courtesy Sikkema Jenkins & Co, New York
Exhibition: Afro Modern: Journeys Through The Black Atlantic, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, until April 25 2010
Tate Liverpool's Black Atlantic season is now in full swing. Culture24 caught up with the gallery's Tanya Barson, who conceived, developed and co-curated major exhibition Afro Modern: Journeys Through the Black Atlantic…
Visually and conceptually dense, Afro Modern traces the impact of black cultures from around the Atlantic on art during the past century, forming a particularly pertinent exhibition for Liverpool, which was a gateway to the Atlantic and key port in the Transatlantic slave trade.
From the Harlem Renaissance world of Aaron Douglas and the sweep of Negrophilia across Europe, through the battle for civil rights and the work of David Hammons to the work of post black artists Kara Walker and Ellen Gallagher, the exhibition traces how artists from around the Atlantic have claimed the language of modernism and used it as a tool to assert their own identity.
Edward Burra, Harlem (1934). © Tate
"To me this is such an obvious history to document. and it is full of artists that I admire. Each of the rooms could have been exhibitions in their own right," says Tate Liverpool Curator Tanya Barson.
"Being based here in Liverpool offers a different perspective of Modernism – not another canon but another version, turning the peripheral figures turn into major ones.
"For example, Josephine Baker and Aaron Douglas are canonical figures but have ended up on the periphery.
"The early 20th century was a period when European artists were trying to decide what Africa was and African American artists were trying to find their own place in modernism. Josephine Baker encapsulates this as a black female celebrity.
"I wanted to show work from really powerful women artists, as they really resonate for me and are at the core of the exhibition."
Renee Cox, River Queen, from Queen Nanny of the Maroons (2004). © the artist
Another important female figure of the period was Nancy Cunard, who became involved in negrophilia and suffered racist abuse as a result - one of her caricatures features in the exhibition next to portraits of Cunard taken by Cecil Beaton.
"She was a female professional who actively changed European established values by becoming involved in black culture," explains Barson.
"Nancy Cunard's book is integral on covering the whole of the Atlantic world, Europe, America, Brazil and South American in an incredibly comprehensive way. It has not been given the admiration it deserves."
From the Black avant-garde, the exhibition moves chronologically through a series of seven themes, bringing together and comparing a wealth of works.
It reveals how there was a generational shift in the 1990s associated with identity - represented by artists like Chris Offilli and Cara Walker. "In recent years there has been a further shift in the way in which history and creativity are used to treat black issues," says Barson.
"The interesting thing about the idea of post black is that it still has some relation to the notions of blackness, but it is not the same."
Wifredo Lam, The Murmur (1943). © Collection Centre Pompidou, dist. RMN / droits reserves © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London (2009)
Could Barson single out one piece that stood out for her in creating an exhibition which covers such a vast range of artists and eras?
"There are some figures that really resonated for me when thinking about the exhibition," she replies.
"Of course there is Aaron Douglas, whose pieces opened the exhibition are absolutely stunning and fantastic.
"The Door (Admission Office) by David Hammons is such an early and substantial work using found objects, and the size of the print is so interesting.
"He is another figure you can follow forward and back in time – he is such an influential artist and he continues to be today.
"He has a really intelligent way with mainstream contemporary art establishment. Really he should be one of the seminal figures in that core of any narrative, but he tends to hold the art world at arms length."
Open 10am-5.50pm (closed Monday). Admission £6/£4.50, or book online or call 0151 702 7400. Visit the exhibition homepage for programme of accompanying events.
To watch a brief introduction to Afro Modern by Tanya Barson check out the video below:
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