CURATORIAL ESSAYS
Bodies of Evidence: Contemporary Perspectives
The RISD Museum of Art, July 1- September 25, 2005
Co-curators Jan Howard and Fo Wilson
Visual Perceptions: Twenty-two African American Designers Challenge Modern Stereotypes
Parsons School of Design Gallery, New York, 1991
Co-curators, Michele Washington and Fo Wilson
OTHER PUBLISHED REVIEWS AND ESSAYS
“The Changing Face of Craft”
Essay, International Review of African American Art, Vol. 22, No.2, 2009
"On Walls and the Walkers"
Review, artist Larry Walker's exhibition
International Review of African American Art, Vol. 20, No.3, 2006
"The Maker as Evidence"
Review, MFA Boston exhibition, The Maker's Hand: American Studio Furniture, 1940-1990
Furniture Studio 3, The Furniture Society, October 2005
"The Dissolution of 'Black Art?, An Exhibition and Book"
Review, International Review of African American Art, Vol. 19, No.2, 2003
"The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, 1945-1994," P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and MOMA,
Review, International Review of African American Art , Vol. 18, No.4, 2002
"Looking for Miles Davis: The Search to Articulate an African American Design Aesthetic"
Essay, Communication Arts, Photography Annual, 2002
Columnist, AIGA Journal
American Institute of Graphic Arts, New York, 1993-1996
Essay, International Review of African American Art, Vol. 22, No.2, 2009
"On Walls and the Walkers"
Review, artist Larry Walker's exhibition
International Review of African American Art, Vol. 20, No.3, 2006
"The Maker as Evidence"
Review, MFA Boston exhibition, The Maker's Hand: American Studio Furniture, 1940-1990
Furniture Studio 3, The Furniture Society, October 2005
"The Dissolution of 'Black Art?, An Exhibition and Book"
Review, International Review of African American Art, Vol. 19, No.2, 2003
"The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, 1945-1994," P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and MOMA,
Review, International Review of African American Art , Vol. 18, No.4, 2002
"Looking for Miles Davis: The Search to Articulate an African American Design Aesthetic"
Essay, Communication Arts, Photography Annual, 2002
Columnist, AIGA Journal
American Institute of Graphic Arts, New York, 1993-1996
ACADEMIC PAPERS
Contemporary Art
Laylah Ali's Enigmatic Narratives
Essay, the work of visual artist Layla Ali.
Carol Duncan: Art Historian as Progressive, Social-politicist & Feminist Critic
Review, "The Aesthetics of Power: Essays in Critical Art History" by Carol Duncan.
"Review: Art on My Mind"
Review, cultural critic bell hooks' 1994 book.
African Continuities & Material Culture
Ancestry, Evolution & Memory: Central African Funerary Art and Practice and its Evolution in the United States and Cuba
This paper advances a concept of "harmonic dualism" as an integral facet of African identity in regards to funerary art and practice of the Kongo people of Central Africa and its legacy in the United States and Cuba. It examines Kongo art and tradition, how it was effected by colonial interests and the Atlantic slave trade, and how the intersection of African and European culture and religion contributed to its evolution in the Americas. It explores how Kongo culture and ideographic language find expression in Afro-colonial funerary traditions and asks what evolution of these traditions and practices do we find as part of a continuum in Diasporic art and culture in the American present?
Object as Storyteller: Investigations into Evidence of African Traditions in African American Material Culture
This paper investigates African cultural continuity and practices within African American culture by tracing the history and uses of a simple, 18th century pewter spoon. This artifact was recovered in a riverbank deposit from an archeological site and is part of the collection of the South Seaport Museum in New York.
Other Writing
MFA Thesis: "Colored Beauty"
An autobiographical accounting of my discovery of the African roots of European Modernism and the inspiration and documentation of my graduate thesis work.
Laylah Ali's Enigmatic Narratives
Essay, the work of visual artist Layla Ali.
Carol Duncan: Art Historian as Progressive, Social-politicist & Feminist Critic
Review, "The Aesthetics of Power: Essays in Critical Art History" by Carol Duncan.
"Review: Art on My Mind"
Review, cultural critic bell hooks' 1994 book.
African Continuities & Material Culture
Ancestry, Evolution & Memory: Central African Funerary Art and Practice and its Evolution in the United States and Cuba
This paper advances a concept of "harmonic dualism" as an integral facet of African identity in regards to funerary art and practice of the Kongo people of Central Africa and its legacy in the United States and Cuba. It examines Kongo art and tradition, how it was effected by colonial interests and the Atlantic slave trade, and how the intersection of African and European culture and religion contributed to its evolution in the Americas. It explores how Kongo culture and ideographic language find expression in Afro-colonial funerary traditions and asks what evolution of these traditions and practices do we find as part of a continuum in Diasporic art and culture in the American present?
Object as Storyteller: Investigations into Evidence of African Traditions in African American Material Culture
This paper investigates African cultural continuity and practices within African American culture by tracing the history and uses of a simple, 18th century pewter spoon. This artifact was recovered in a riverbank deposit from an archeological site and is part of the collection of the South Seaport Museum in New York.
Other Writing
MFA Thesis: "Colored Beauty"
An autobiographical accounting of my discovery of the African roots of European Modernism and the inspiration and documentation of my graduate thesis work.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
“From Sarah Baartman to Li’l Kim”
R. Shabaka, International Review of African American Art, Vol. 22, No.2, 2009
“Art Scene: Art, Sex and Politics Intersect at RISD Museum Show”
Bill Van Siclen, The Providence Journal, August 11, 2005
“Art Scene: Fiber and Furniture”
Bill Van Siclen, The Providence Journal, March 31, 2005
Women Designers in the U.S.A.: Diversity and Difference, 1900-2000
Pat Kirkham (Editor), Yale University Press, 2001
Clean New World
Maud Lavin, MIT Press, 2001
Mixing Messages: Graphic Design in Contemporary Culture
Ellen Lupton, Princeton Architectural Press, 1996
“What Is It? Searching for a Black Aesthetic in American Graphic Design”
Sylvia Harris, International Review of African American Art, Spring 1996
Design in Depth
DK Holland, Michael Bierut and William Drenttel (Editors),
Rockport Publishers, 1996
“In Search of Cultural Equity”
Laural Harper, Communication Arts, March/April 1995
“A Hurting on Their Souls: How the African Experience Defines an American Aesthetic”
Mary Ann French, The Washington Post, November 17, 1994
