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Nicole Buchanan, DG 14, 2015. Gift of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

Introduction

Defying the Shadow

December 1, 2020 - December 18, 2021

Defying the Shadow presents images by Black artists and of Black figures that resist the consumptive impulses of looking. As anti-portraits or visages that challenge the viewer’s desire to know, comprehend, categorize, or easily define, these works oppose a historical narrative of dispossession and domination that continues to violate the humanity of marginalized people.

Black presence(s) in public space should not be seen or signaled as radical. There often is, however, an implicit expectation that art made by Black makers explain itself to wider audiences. Resisting the practice of claiming an institutional voice that is steeped in imperial knowing, this show provides very few labels. This decision seeks to minimize the replication of oppression through the voyeuristic pleasure aligned with systems of exploitative purveyorship.

Defying the Shadow examines how Black subjects operate in and against modern political systems, which keep them under constant surveillance and risk of violence. This show considers the “defiant” body not only as a site of possibility, but also a challenge to authoritative systems of knowing, including the white-supremacist function of the traditional gaze. Beginning with Sojourner Truth’s abolitionist portraits stamped with the slogan “I Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance,” the assembled works—ranging from 19th-century photographs to contemporary prints—focus on the appearance of shadows in formal and metaphorical settings.

Curated by Anita N. Bateman, PhD
Former Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow
Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
RISD Museum

Exhibition graphics by Jada Akoto (RISD BFA 2022, Graphic Design) inspired by Victor Ekpuk

Shadows, RISD Museum’s 14th issue of Manual, is a companion to this exhibition. Copies can be purchased at the museum entrance, with related proceeds being donated to the RI Solidarity Fund. The full issue can also be downloaded at no charge by people who identify as Black, of Black African descent, or members of the African diaspora.

won’t you celebrate with me

won't you celebrate with me
what i have shaped into
a kind of life? i had no model.
born in babylon
both nonwhite and woman
what did i see to be except myself?
i made it up
here on this bridge between
starshine and clay,
my one hand holding tight
my other hand; come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.

–Lucille Clifton

Projects & Publications

Publications

Manual / Issue 14

Shadows
Read Online

Selected Objects

Kara Walker

The Means to an End...A Shadow Drama in Five Acts, 1995

Roy DeCarava

Untitled, 1978

James Van Der Zee

Nude, Harlem, 1923, printed ca. 1973

Studio Fredericks & O'Neil, photographer

Portrait of a Black Woman, 1860

Aaron Douglas

Dance Magic, 1930

Clarence John Laughlin

"MOTHER" Brown, 1945

Lorna Simpson, printmaker

Counting, 1991

David Hammons

Untitled (Body Print), 1974

Romare Howard Bearden

Ritual, ca. 1965

Calvin Burnett

Sojourner Truth, 1964

Renée Stout

Recurring Damballah Dream, 1999

Adrian Piper

Food for the Spirit, 1971

Gordon Parks

Selwyn, 42nd Street, New York, 1955

Fred Wilson

X, 2005

Glenn Ligon

Untitled, 2003

Carrie Mae Weems

When and Where I Enter, The British Museum, 2007

Howardena Pindell

Autobiography: Past & Present, 1988-1989

Faith Ringgold

Under the Blood Red Sky, 2007

Paul Meleschnig

Untitled, 2000, printed 2012

Adrian Piper

My Calling (Card) #2 (Reactive Guerilla Performance for Bars and Discos), circulated 1986-present

American

Untitled, ca. 1970s

American

Hazel's Birthday Party, Age 21, Chicago, Illinois, ca. 1940s

American

Rabbits Maybe, ca. 1950

Nicole Buchanan

IN 08, 2015

Adrian Piper

My Calling (Card) #1 (Reactive Guerilla Performance for Bars and Discos), circulated 1986-present

Vincent Smith

Shadows in Harlem, 1965 (printed 1994)

Kelly Taylor Mitchell

Untitled, 2017

Aïda Muluneh

Age of Anxiety, 2016

Ming Smith

Romare Bearden, New York, NY, 1977, 1977, printed ca. 1991

American

Untitled, c. 1950s

American

Untitled, ca. 1940s

American

Untitled, ca. 1940s

American

Untitled, ca.1940s-1950s

American

Untitled, 1954

American

Untitled, ca. 1960s

American

Untitled, ca. 1950s-1960s

American

Untitled, ca. 1948-1960

American

Untitled, ca.1950s-1960s

American

Untitled, 1950s

American

Untitled, ca. 1960

American

Untitled, ca. 1940s-1960s

American

Untitled, ca.1940s

American

The Last Dress, ca.1940s

American

Untitled, ca. 1930s-1940s

American

Untitled, 1958

American

Untitled, ca.1950s

American

The Rainbow Ballroom, ca.1940s

American

Untitled, ca.1930-1935

American

Untitled, 1939

American

Untitled, ca.1940s

American

Untitled, ca.1930s

American

Untitled, 1929

American

Untitled, ca. 1920s-1930s

American

Untitled, 1957

American

Untitled, ca. mid 1940s

American

Untitled, ca. mid 1900s

American

Untitled, ca. 1940s

American

Untitled, 1946

American

Untitled, ca. late 1930s-early 1940s

American

Doris Hollingsworth, Bill Keyes, The Moore Girls..., ca. late 1950s-early 1960s

American

Untitled, 1956

American

Untitled, ca.mid 1930s

American

Untitled, ca. late 1940s-1950s

American

Untitled, 1954

American

Untitled, ca. 1940s

American

Some Kids, ca. mid 1950s-1960s

American

Untitled, 1954

American

Michelle, Cliff, Connie, and Donnie, 1971

American

Untitled, ca.1970s

American

Untitled, ca.1960s

American

Untitled, 1959

American

Untitled, 1973

Nicole Buchanan

DG 14, 2015

Toyin Ojih Odutola

Last Portrait of the 18th Marquess, 2018

Kerry James Marshall

Frankenstein, 2010

Kerry James Marshall

Bride of Frankenstein, 2010
No Image Available

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

Mirror Study (_Q5A3505), 2016
No Image Available

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

Mirror Study (_Q5A321), 2016

American

I Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance, Sojourner Truth, 1864

More objects +

Exhibition Checklist

Defying the Shadow

December 1, 2020 - December 18, 2021
View Checklist PDF

RISD Museum

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