Event Details

NATIONAL BLACK ART EXHIBITIONS AT ELLINGTON-WHITE CONTEMPORARY AND ROSENTHAL ART GALLERY FAYETTEVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY JANUARY 15 – FEBRUARY 29, 2020 Ellington-White Contemporary Art Gallery in collaboration with Fayetteville State University Rosenthal Gallery and The National Conference of Artists North Carolina Chapter will present a National Black Art Exhibition that explores New Media Abstraction and Identity Politics: in traditional and contemporary Black Visual Art, from January 15 – February 29, 2020. Opening receptions on Saturday, January 18 th from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. at both locations. New Media Abstraction is defined as a contemporary aesthetic used to examine, interrogate and re-imagine dominate cultural narratives of Black experiences across the Diaspora and contemporary artists exploring a wide range of traditional and nontraditional materials from a variety of sources. Looking for works that infuses elements of technology, music and pop culture, science fiction, magical realism, historical fantasy and is effective in helping visual artists’ articulate new subjectivities as well as new realities. Exhibiting artists will be asked to freely interpret the various ideas discussed within the theme. This national exhibition will feature works of art from The National Conference of Artists and The National Alliance of Artists from Historically Black Colleges and Universities with works by Ben Jones, Peggy Blood, David C. Driskell, Willis Bing Davis, John Biggers, Margaret T. Burroughs, Shirley Woodson, Charlie Johnson, Louise M. Johnson, Lee Ransaw Dwight Smith and Robert J. Stull are a few of the over thirty-six exhibiting artists from across the country. The exhibition will feature a wide range of artistic creativity centered on the Black Aesthetic. Internationally recognized artist Ben Jones will be the featured guest lecturer for this exhibition on February 7 and 8 at FSU and Ellington-White. Ben Jones is an American artist with a great interest in Cuba, where he is well known and has had several major exhibits. "Jones has made over fifty cultural exchange visits to Cuba since the nineteen-seventies, and is noted by the Granma International of Havana, Cuba as one of the most important African-American artists of his generation." For nearly five decades, Jones' multimedia installations have reflected his travel and research in Africa, Europe, South America, United States and the Caribbean to include the Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY), Studio Museum of Harlem (New York, NY) and Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Havana, Cuba) to name a few. He has received numerous grants and awards including two National Endowment for the Arts grants (2007 and 1974-75), The Puffin Foundation 2005) and The Joan Mitchell Foundation grant (2002) among many others. Jones has lectured at universities, museums and cultural institutions worldwide including, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), Howard University (Washington, DC), Savannah College of Art and Design (Savannah, GA), Wilfredo Lam Center (Havana, Cuba) and University of Ghana (Accra, Ghana) to name a few. Jones will present series of lectures to FSU art majors and the general public on February 7, 2020. The National Conference of Artists, founded in 1959, is devoted to the preservation, promotion, and furtherance of African and African American culture, and the creative forces of the artists that emanate from the African World experience.  The NCA proudly proclaims its existence as the oldest African American visual arts advocacy organization in the United States. Its members include artists, educators, scholars, exhibitors, art distributors, art collectors, and gallery owners, museum personnel and supporters of African and African American art and culture.  It has national chapters in many large urban areas of the country. The newest chapter is the North Carolina Chapter located here in Fayetteville. Dr. Lee A. Ransaw, then Dean of Arts & Letters, and Chair of the Fine Arts Department, along with Lamar Wilson, Director of the Ruth Hall Hodges Art Gallery, envisioned the National Alliance of Artists from HBCUs during the summer of 1999 on the campus of Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia. NAAHBCU’s mission statement defines the purpose of the organization is to bring Art and Art Education to the forefront of member institutions and to keep these programs as institutional priorities for generations to come. The Alliance is committed to developing in its member and especially students, the artistic and life skills needed to function as literate citizens in the society of today and in the future. The NAAHBCU also exists to provide comprehensive activities that offer artistic and expressive opportunities for professional artists employed or formerly employed at member institutions as well as for historians and curators, collectors, and friends of the arts. For more information contact Dwight Smith, Assistant Professor of Visual Art and Director of the Rosenthal Gallery, Fayetteville State University at 910-672-1795.