Culture Crawl

This section includes a peek at the latest in theater, reviews of women-only exhibits, reflections on something interesting in film,
a snapshot of ​a special cultural or community event, etc.

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Black Women of Print Take Center Stage at The MET​

By Sandra Bertrand

​There’s an old tagline in the newspaper world: “All the news that’s fit to print.” In the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s current exhibition, The Power of Portraiture: Selections from the Department of Drawings and Prints, the prints on display are not only fit for the eye’s consumption – they leave a lasting impression on the heart.
 
The Department boasts more than a million drawings, prints, and illustrated books from roughly 1400 to the present day. What sets this particular exhibition apart are some outstanding works from Black women printmakers, a discipline where their numbers have been underrepresented until recently. Two standout artists’ works from the recent past, Emma Amos’ “Dream Girl” (1975) and Elizabeth Catlett’s “Sharecropper” (1952) bring Black portraiture into the forefront. Through a combination of aquatint, etching and relief, Amos’ subject confronts the viewer straight-on, with no apology. In “Sharecropper,” Catlett wanted to create “art for the people,” and her female tenant farmer succeeds beautifully – an iconic image for Black women workers everywhere.

"Sharecropper" (1952)
​​© Elizabeth Catlett

"Mrs. Burroughs" (2019)
© LaToya M. Hobbs​

Tanekeya Word and her collective of Black Women of Print are at the core of the exhibition, with several stunning works from their "Continuum" series from 2019 on display. LaToya M. Hobbs’ portrait of Margaret Taylor Burroughs delights the eye. One can feel the joy in her woodcut depiction of this exceptional woman. Burroughs was an artist and founder of the DuSable Black History Museum in Chicago, Illinois. Word’s own linocut collage, “Starshine & Clay,” portrays a regal Black woman framed by the sun.

​These featured artists are in good company. An assortment of accompanying prints includes such luminaries as Pierre Bonnard’s “The Little Laundry Girl” (1895-96) and Eugene Delacroix’s lithograph of Macbeth Consulting the Witches (1825). But the most fitting inclusion to this memorable show is a large etching by John Woodrow Wilson of Martin Luther King, Jr. from 2002. One can only imagine Mr. King’s pleasure at being part of such a fitting and inclusive exhibit.

"Martin Luther King, Jr." (2002)
© John Woodrow Wilson

NOTE: “Continuum” runs through February 7 as part of The Power of Portraiture: Selections from the Department of Drawings and Prints at The MET, Gallery 690.

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More About BLACK WOMEN of PRINT:

BLACK WOMEN of PRINT (BWoP) was founded in October 2018 by Tanekeya Word, a Black woman, visual artist, art educator, scholar, and fine art printmaker who resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Word was interested in creating an equitable safe place for Black women printmakers who were underrepresented in the discipline of printmaking, a space that is eulogized as democratic. 
 
BWoP is an African diaspora centered platform, a digital homeplace for independent, mid-career and established Black women printmakers. The organization serves as a place to support and promote the visibility of Black women printmakers and as a professional member directory of Black women printmakers who practice within the field.
 
Readers may apply for membership.

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Sandra Bertrand is an award-winning playwright and painter. She is Chief Art Critic for Highbrow Magazine and a contributing writer for GALO Magazine. Prior to working for Sanctuary as Culture & Travel Editor, Sandra was a Featured Artist in May 2019.