MFA Senior Thesis

As I grow older, I’m starting to be more conscious and inquisitive about my position in this world, as a black man, as an artist, and as a child tangled in the history of a country that doesn’t care about me. During my two years in graduate school, the idea of representation has been on my mind and the basis of my thesis. Being a black man living in the United States, I’ve had to grow up with a sense of double consciousness. According to WEB Dubois, double consciousness refers to the idea of staying true to the black culture while being able to conform to the rules of the white society. This idea has transformed into a way of life for me. I found that when you aren’t vigilant or aware of the space you hold as a black person within this social climate and environment, it’ll do you more harm than good. 

My thesis project highlights current black artists from different sectors and backgrounds within the culture that I find important to me. I’ve decided to separate this project into two components. The first component is the photography series. In order to make this project effective, I had to make sure that I wasn’t just meeting with my friends and acquaintances. The focus of the project was to include and talk about the place that I’ve grown up and hold close to my heart, New York. Using the abundance of resources that I have at my fingertips, I put out a model call on social media to reach out to the black community to help me with this project. 

Along with posting this model call, I created a Google Form to help me categorize artistry, background information, and why people want to be a part of my project. Not only did it help me collect information, but it allowed me to extend into circles I wasn’t a part of by my friends and followers tagging and sending my post to people they think would be a perfect fit for my project. A crucial part of this project for me was thinking about the environment where I wanted to capture the community I was building. As a twenty-four year old graduate student, I’m very conscious of the fact that I don’t have a grandiose photo studio that I can invite people to be photographed. This obstacle is something I’ve been dealing with for sometime now, but it lends itself to the vulnerability of this project. I’ve been meeting people exactly where they are. This means wherever they work: whether that be in their room, in their studio, in a shop, etc. Another reason I chose this route was to enhance the vulnerability that already comes with photography. In today’s day and age, it’s looked down upon to find a stranger on the internet and invite them into your home/personal space. I’m very thankful to have a discipline that allows for me to create the vulnerable connection that I do with the people that I work with. By photographing people in their space, I’m allowed to create a better narrative and capture the true essence of each and every person. Each of my subjects is at a different stage in their journey.  It’s important to me that this body of work acts as a catalyst for the overall contribution to the culture. It’s time that the American society stops neglecting smaller black artists because they don’t have the proper credentials, an absurd amount of followers, or a studio space in the most expensive city in the world. 

The second component of my project is the documentary series I’m making. I’ve been trying to find a way to add a narrative to my work, and film has been my most recent discovery. Within my last two years in graduate school, I’ve pushed my skillset and knowledge by taking film classes such as Self-Documentary and Experimental Workshop. Experimental Workshop has been a class that has changed my framework of what a documentary is supposed to be for the better. This style of filming allows me to do things that don’t revolve around the framework of  “documentaries” which allows for more play within the work. For example, I’ve been using audio and video that, upon first glance and listen, have nothing to do with one another at first glance and listen, don’t have anything to do with each other. I want to allow my viewers to be able to wander? off with their eyes while listening intently to the voices discussing the current state of Black America in regards to the current black renaissance, politics within society, the current state of the culture, the racism we face with our hair in the workplace and institutions, etc. It’s important to me that we have these conversations not only in private, but in public, so people can be aware of the lack of representation of the black community within the overall view of America.

Representation is slowly starting to become a huge factor within my work which wasn’t completely apparent to me until coming to graduate school. Before this body of work, I had created my Senior Undergrad thesis, Acknowledging The Darkness to Flourish in the Light: Striving and Surviving, around the state of black men in America during 2020-2021. This was a pivotal project as this was the first time I took an “activist” stance in my work. It dawned upon me that the same reason why I wanted to create this project is the same reason that I started photography; so that my voice would be heard visually. I was never one to use my voice outwardly. But when I found out that I was blessed with my photographic talent, I could say more with my photos than I ever could with my voice. For that body of work, I applied the same tactics in regards to outreach in order to find black men that shared the same pain and agony and wanted to do something about it. From friends, to my father, mother, and sister, I captured portraits of these people and paired them along with their anecdotes about how they felt about being a black man in America in 2021. 

In tandem with thinking of representation as a black man, I think about representation in relation to the loss of my mother on September 11th. As I’ve grown older, I’ve used my art practices to find answers to the unanswered questions that this tragedy has brought into my life. Within my more recent work and method of thinking, my goal has expanded toward communal representation rather than just focusing on the loss of my mother. For 23 years, the media has only voiced the stories and feelings of the adults that were conscious of what was going on that day. As time moves forward, it seems that people are losing care and interest when it comes to September 11th. This could very well be because every year we hear the same speech from the same group of people. My curiosity lies in why there hasn’t been a transition to hearing from the children of the September 11th victims. With this being such a transformative historical event for America,  We deserve to tell the world how this tragedy has impacted us and I believe that I’m the person to make that happen. 

As much as I can talk about representation, it’s been proven that talking has the least amount of impact on people. Just as the saying goes, “in one ear and out the other”, I want this body of work to be something that makes an impression on people and starts a bigger conversation that needs to be had about representation. Being aware of my status as a graduate student and the opportunities that I’m able to receive, I’ve strategically used my thesis shows to physically help move the pendulum of representation. Throughout this process, I became very aware that I’d be having a thesis show at the Richard and Dolly Maass Gallery and PS122. Knowing this, I’m using these shows to catapult myself and these artists into spaces that wouldn’t be obtainable if it weren’t  for my current position. Furthermore, the way I’ve begun to present this work is something that is new to me, but I think will be rather productive. For some of the works in this thesis, I’ve begun to print on transparency film. This move allowed for me to branch off from the typical inkjet glossy print into a material that speaks about the opacity in which America views black people. With being able to see through the print, as well as see the print from both sides, the viewer can begin to question why they can see through this person and how it relates to society’s view on black people. During the installation of my first show, I was in the process of hanging my transparencies on the ceiling when I noticed a reflection of Reneé being casted on the wall. That’s when it dawned on me to make a component of work for this series in less than 24 hours. By taking the transparencies, I suspended them from the ceiling and placed a projector behind each set, not only illuminating the transparencies to project on the wall, but projecting a slideshow of the people I’ve been able to photograph for this project. This created a sort of  “dome” of black people around the whole gallery space which perfectly aligned with the main purpose of this project, to be seen (Figure 3,4,5).

Throughout history, we’ve seen an abundance of neglect towards the black community. This is in reference to history, society, culture and much more. For the research behind my thesis, I’ve been looking back at history because it’s important for me to reinforce the history of representation for the black culture within the scope of America and to assess whether we’ve made any progress. Even though some time has gone by, I’ve noticed similarities in the problems that these artists and I have faced and the new problems that have surfaced that have to be accounted for. 

One of my flash points is the Harlem Renaissance, which was such a pivotal movement for black artists. The Harlem Renaissance was one of the first times in history when the black community was celebrated and the culture was at an all-time high. From 1918 to 1937, the black community embraced Harlem, which  became the hotspot for black culture. One of the artists at this time who took up the role of “rewriting our history” was James Van Der Zee (1886-1983). Van Der Zee was a black photographer who came to Harlem  after growing up in Lenox, Massachusetts, and living there for some time. Van Der Zee took pride in photographing the black middle-class community of Harlem by bringing them into his studio to take portraits.  He soon began to implement a method of dodging and burning to manipulate the photos of his subjects in order to juxtapose the hardness and grit that society associated with black people to the glamor and aura of perfection that was seen within the black community, but not within the grand scheme of society. Using his notable techniques to portray his subjects in a way that emphasized their individuality and uniqueness, Van Der Zee made his work defy negative stereotypes perpetuated by the media of the time that dominated the public consciousness. Whether photographing ordinary families, local musicians, or influential figures of the Harlem Renaissance, Van Der Zee sought to convey a sense of agency and self-determination. His subjects were not passive objects but active participants in defining their narratives. 

Similar to Van Der Zee, I’ve taken the responsibility of becoming the photographer on the inside to photograph the black community, specifically artists, in order to contribute to the push to make sure that we are being seen. I believe that the work doesn’t just stop at the work. I can talk about representation and have a show about it, but how do I actively engage with this issue? I decided to take the opportunity to have a Photo Booth at my show. I made a Google Form for people to submit their information, but I gave Black people / People of Color (POC) the opportunity to be represented within this project. As I photograph people, I’ve updated the slideshow gallery to make sure that those people are feeling represented within the space of a Predominantly White Institution (PWI) (Figure 5,6).  

 “Harlem on My Mind: The Cultural Capital of Black America” was an exhibition organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1969. This exhibition “sought to explore the cultural history of the predominantly Black community of Harlem, New York.” Even though this show sounded like a great idea, it soon fell into controversy. Although the Met included Black Artists that lived in Harlem within the exhibition, I question the performative aspect of this exhibition. An exhibition that was supposed to highlight the Black culture had been turned into something of an ethnographic, anthropological eyesore. Curators were opposed to including people from the community to allow the viewers to connect with the community on a deeper level; instead, “viewers encountered a social narrative of Harlem told through reproductions of newspaper clippings, timelines, a soundscape of street noises, and photographs of prominent leaders and anonymous Harlem residents—among them, images by James Van Der Zee and Gordon Parks, whose photographs were reproduced as design elements.” This was the Met’s first attempt to make space to represent black art, but the museum was entirely dismissive of its own mission. It failed to truly represent black artists within an institution that was internationally known to represent fine art. 

Even though the exhibition was a tremendous failure at black representation within a prestigious? institutional setting, the controversy stirred up so much outrage within the black community that the repercussions made room for a conversation that would impact institutions as we know them. Upon the realization that HOMM was more of a Westernized “anthropological” view of the black community in Harlem, various committee members and black artists withdrew their support for the exhibition a year before it was scheduled to open. The complete omission of black artists was an insult to the culture that had been so delicately created by the community, for the community. Fast forward a week before the opening:, “A group of artists including Benny Andrews, Romare Bearden, Henri Ghent, Norman Lewis, Cliff Joseph, and Ed Taylor formed the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition (BECC) to organize protests against The Met. Several of their signs read, “Harlem on Whose Mind?” On the opening day of the exhibition, protests erupted outside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art as the black community took to the streets holding up signs that read, “Harlem on Whose Mind?”  

After protesting the Met for sixteen weeks, the length of the show, massive attention was brought to the lack of representation and the amount of misrepresentation that was happening within influential art institutions. Not only was there a spotlight on the lack of inclusion within the infrastructure of the institution, but the black community started to take this matter into their own hands by opening galleries and museums that were dedicated to representing black artists. A successful by-product of the HOMM controversy is the opening of the Studio Museum of Harlem. One brand-new institution that resisted was the Studio Museum of Harlem, which opened in 1968, one year before HOMM opened, becoming a “nexus for artists of African descent locally, nationally, and internationally and for work that has been inspired and influenced Black culture.” In 1976, the Studio Museum in Harlem became the custodian, the owner, of James Van Der Zee’s entire catalog of work, amongst that of other black artists such as Gordon Parks and Jacob Lawerance. This museum was one of the catalysts that helped cultivate a home for Black art and bring about the recognition that there was a need for black representation. If there was no space at the table, the black community would band together and make room. Recently, in December 2021, the Met announced that it will have a partnership with the Studio Museum in Harlem and Ms. Van Der Zee , Van Der Zee’s wife, to retain the archive of “approximately 20,000 prints made in his lifetime, 30,000 negatives, studio equipment, and ephemera.” Although Van Der Zee passed away in 1983, the long-fought battle between the Studio Museum of Harlem and The Metropolitan Museum of Art came to a close and Van Der Zee received the representation that he truly deserved, as well as contributing to the conversation of institutional representation for the black community and artists to follow.

Another artist that I reference is Kerry James Marshall. Engaged in an ongoing dialogue with six centuries of representational painting, Kerry James Marshall (b. 1955) is known for his expansive body of work, which also includes drawings, sculptures and prints. Central to Marshall is a  critical recognition of the conditions of invisibility long afflicting Black figures in the Western pictorial tradition and the creation of what he calls a “counter-archive” that brings them back into this narrative. In many of his pieces, Marshall deliberately positions his subjects in settings that are not commonly associated with mainstream representations of Black life. By depicting everyday scenes—whether it’s a family gathering, a barbershop, or a domestic setting—Marshall humanizes his subjects, challenging prevailing stereotypes and offering a counter-narrative to the often one-dimensional portrayals of the Black community in art and media.

Moreover, Marshall is known for his dedication to addressing the lack of representation of Black figures in art history. He intentionally includes dark-skinned subjects in his paintings, defying the historical trend of marginalizing them or romanticizing lighter-skinned individuals. This deliberate choice serves as a commentary on the historical underrepresentation of dark-skinned individuals in the art world and the broader media landscape, highlighting the beauty and dignity of all shades within the Black community. Marshall was inspired by Ralph Ellison’s 1952 masterpiece, The Invisible Man,  which highlighted the issues of racism and segregation in the early 20th century. The way that Marshall depicts black people in his paintings is a response to how  white people used to make a mockery of black people in the form known as “black face,” making figures that have a resemblance to “cartoonish clowns.” Such a mode of painting black figures projected the idea of a black body within the lens of a dominant White culture. Black  figures were depicted as invisible, scary, disembodied, and more. James used his signature mode of painting by fighting fire with fire. “A Portrait of the Artist as a Shadow of His Former Self” is a painting by Marshall that I find to be outstanding. Even for his own self portrait, Marshall painted himself just as he paints everybody else. This has a vulnerability to it as a black man that you have to tussle with. It is obvious that Marshall doesn’t look like this if he were to look in the mirror, but the strength comes from within knowing that this is how he is viewed. Not only has Marshall adapted this mode of creating and made it his signature, but he has also perfected walking the fine line of pushing the narrative that comes with negative connotations of this imagery, redefining and “reclaiming the image of Blackness so that it wasn’t negatively valued.”

In 1995, the city of Chicago (where he has lived for many years)  commissioned Marshall to create a mural,“Knowledge and Wonder”, for the West Side branch library. This was an amazing commission in a great place depicting “a group of African-American children, crisply painted, with the rich black skin tone characteristic of Marshall’s works. The children are standing rapt, beholding what is deliciously uncertain. Astronomical phenomena, chemical symbols and biological entities dance around giant books. A ladder reaches to the sky; a tree made of flourishes of white paint harbors a bright red cardinal in its branches. There’s even a mythical beast, a dragon with a red mask-like head, rearing up against a blue warrior. Rough patches of paint, white and a few other colors, scuffed and dripping, make parts of the scene hard to see, reminding us that what we are looking at is, in fact, a painting.” The Black Chicago community celebrated this work because it showed the representation of black children within the education system.

In 2018, the Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, announced that the painting would be auctioned at Christie’s, New York to benefit the City of Chicago’s public fund and libraries program. The community was in shock when they heard this was happening. In a city where the government doesn’t care about the quality of education that Black children are receiving, this was a motivational artwork for the community. It helped create a vision to show those children that they could do anything. This act of erasing black history and representation elicited widespread criticism from the community, critics, and even Marshall himself, who said “You could say the City of Big Shoulders has wrung every bit of value they could from the fruits of my labor.” After all the backlash, the Mayor agreed with the community and canceled the sale. In response, Christie’s stated, “All parties involved are delighted that Kerry James Marshall’s Knowledge and Wonder will stay in Chicago—that had been a shared goal for the city and Christie’s throughout the sale process, and one we were actively working towards together these last weeks.” I find the statement that he provided to be an act of politically “saving face”. As a white politician, Rahm Emanual clearly made this decision solely thinking about the money that would be made off of this sale, but not enough about how he was erasing a segment of black history and representation that was specifically intertwined with the black community of Chicago. 

Another of my influences is Kara Elizabeth Walker, who was born in 1969 in Stockton, California. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and her father was an artist and professor. Walker showed an early interest in art, and her talent was evident from a young age. She attended the Atlanta College of Art and later earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1994. Walker rose to prominence in the 1990s for her unique and controversial approach to art, particularly her use of black paper silhouettes to create intricate and visually striking scenes. Her work is deeply rooted in exploring and challenging racial and gender stereotypes with a heavy focus on the personal history she has with the United States.

One of the first works that garnered controversy for Walker was “Gone, An Historical Romance of Civil War as it Occurred between the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart.” This piece depicts “​​black cut-out silhouettes of caricatures of antebellum figures arranged on a white wall in uncanny, sexual, and violent scenarios. In reviving the eighteenth-century cut-paper silhouette to critique historical narratives of slavery and the ongoing perpetuation of ethnic stereotypes, Walker has transformed the craft into a new type of epic history painting.” Walker faced lots of backlash once this piece was exhibited at the Tang Museum, Saratoga, NY in 2003. finished. One critic that became really personal with her critic of Walker’s work was Betye Saar. In 1997, Walker created a work that was titled “Slavery! Slavery! Presenting a GRAND and LIFELIKE Panoramic Journey into Picturesque Southern Slavery”. In this work, Walker depicts a world in which African American slaves are seeking reparations by “seeking revenge on their white masters, while also having sex with one another and being raped by their masters”. This work completely enraged Saar for in the summer of 1997, she launched an attack on Walker. Addressing over 200 noteworthy black artists with the tagline of “I am writing you, seeking your help to spread awareness about the negative images produced by the young African-American artist, Kara Walker.” I find this situation to be extremely interesting because the critic is coming from within the black community about work that informs our past. It’s not something that we, black people, can run from and I believe that it’s better to keep the history at the forefront of people’s minds so nobody forgets how far black people have come in today’s society. In 1999, the PBS network ran a special, “I’ll Make Me A World”, in which Saar stated “The work of Kara Walker [is] sort of revolting and negative and a form of betrayal to the slaves, particularly women and children, was basically for the amusement and the investment of the white art establishment.” It seemed that Saar had a personal vendetta against Walker and her work as she viewed this as exploitation of history and essentially a negative view of the community that need not a recantation of the times in history where black people were enslaved.  On the other hand, artists and critics such as Henry Louis Gates Jr. came to her support, arguing the opposing  “that her work functions as a devastating critique of the way that all of us, black as well as white, continue to be complicit in ethnic stereotyping in the 21st century.” Walker has used and dismantled the way America has constructed this negative image of what they believe black people/history to look like and behave. 

Walker has shown that the negative comments that come with her controversial work have had no effect on her mode of production. It’s fair to say that the negative conversations surrounding her work fuel her even more. History has shown that society will be accepting of white artists when they depict black culture in the light of the Westernized lens, but that it will express outrage when a black artist does the same thing. Even though the conversation can be tough to digest, Walker makes sure not to shy away from agonizing themes that need to be explored. In her interview from March 2013 with the online art magazine Hyperallergic, she says “There’s a too-muchness about it,” responding to a question about why art that addresses race and gender is so often considered inflammatory and rejected out of hand. “Dealing with race you’re already entering the terrain of too much,” she explains, “and when you add gender to that, because violence is implicit in each, the viewer might feel overwhelmed.” Add to this the “too-muchness” that Walker has earlier described as pervading all visual art: the mute quality of drawing that potentially makes the viewer feel more complicit in what’s going on, and the fact that images come at the audience in their all-at-once entirety, whereas for the artist, they’ve been unfolding over time. As we look back at the work that Walker has made, “the finished product feel less like an autonomous action than a confrontation, even an attack.”

One of her more recent works, “The moral arc of history ideally bends towards justice but just as soon as not curves back around toward barbarism, sadism, and unrestrained chaos” (DATE) was put on display in the Newark Public Library in New Jersey. Staying on theme with her past works and her message, “The large 6-by-9 1⁄2-foot drawing presents a “Guernica”-like chaos of anguished forms in graphite and pastel. But instead of the Spanish Civil War, the subject is race in America. The burning cross and Obama at the podium are there, as are images of struggle and abuse from slavery through Reconstruction and Jim Crow — most notably, a black woman whose face is being forced into the groin of a white man. As with the work’s title, these images complicate Martin Luther King’s faith in evolving justice.” Due to the graphic nature of the piece, the Newark community that frequents the Newark Public Library found this piece to be extremely graphic and wanted it removed. I support Walker because she doesn’t shy away from the artwork that she’s so drawn to making. It’s always hard to make work that is so content heavy, especially relation to a specific community, because everybody feels like they have protection over how the material gets used. In terms of graphic content and material, Walker isn’t doing anything different from what the American system has been doing for years. Starting from when you’re first put in the education system, you learn about the horrific decades of slavery and all the negative repercussions that black people had to face. If anything, this work should be protected by the black community as Walker tries to educate others and empower the black community from within. Once again, institutions censor black artists making work about our own history for the protection and advancement of the black culture. It seems that every chance we think we get at improving the representation with institutions, we are stripped of the human right to make these works about our history and present them to the world. 

“I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass.”

The artistic contributions of Kerry James Marshall, Kara Walker, and James Van Der Zee have played a pivotal role in the ongoing fight for black representation in the realm of visual arts. Through their distinct styles, unique perspectives, and unwavering commitment to portraying the diverse experiences of the Black community, these artists have shattered stereotypes, challenged historical narratives, and redefined the visual landscape. Kerry James Marshall’s vibrant and celebratory depictions of Black life assert the beauty and complexity of blackness, promoting a positive and affirming representation that counters prevailing negative stereotypes. Kara Walker, through her powerful use of silhouettes and provocative imagery, confronts the painful legacy of slavery and racism, forcing viewers to engage with uncomfortable truths and fostering important conversations about the lasting impact of historical injustices. James Van Der Zee’s iconic photographs capture the resilience, elegance, and dignity of Black individuals during the Harlem Renaissance, contributing to a counter-narrative that challenges prevailing racial biases. Together, these artists have not only created compelling works of art but have also become catalysts for change, inspiring a new generation of artists, scholars, and viewers to question and redefine the boundaries of representation. Their contributions go beyond the canvas or photograph, extending into the cultural consciousness and influencing the broader discourse on race, identity, and equality. As we continue to grapple with issues of racial injustice, the legacies of Marshall, Walker, and Van Der Zee remind us of the transformative power of art in the pursuit of a more inclusive and equitable future. Through their artistic endeavors, they have left an indelible mark on the fight for black representation, pushing the boundaries of creativity and challenging societal norms, one brushstroke, silhouette, or snapshot at a time. The fight for representation can’t stop with them. It’s up to the black artists of today to keep fighting. As a black photographer, it’s my responsibility to uphold and create this new history. The artists from the past inspire me to keep pushing forth and make this body of work that will bring to light the lack of black representation that needs to be changed within society.

Endnotes

1. Baum, Kelly, Maricelle Robles, and Sylvia Yount. “‘Harlem on Whose Mind?’: The Met and Civil Rights.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 17, 2021. https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2021/harlem-on-my-mind. 
2. Cooks, Bridget R. “Black Artists and Activism: Harlem on My Mind.” American Studies 48, no. 1 (2010): 5–39. https://doi.org/10.1353/ams.0.0137. 
3. Baum, Kelly, Maricelle Robles, and Sylvia Yount. “‘Harlem on Whose Mind?’: The Met and Civil Rights.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 17, 2021. https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2021/harlem-on-my-mind. 
4. “The Studio Museum in Harlem.” Studio Museum in Harlem. Accessed December 9, 2023. https://www.studiomuseum.org/history. 
5. “The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces the Establishment of the James Van Der Zee Archive in Partnership with The Studio Museum in Harlem Donna van Der Zee Announces next Chapter of Her Late Husband’s Archive.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces the Establishment of the James Van Der Zee Archive in Partnership with The Studio Museum in Harlem Donna Van Der Zee Announces Next Chapter of Her Late Husband’s Archive – The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accessed December 12, 2023. https://www.metmuseum.org/press/news/2021/james-van-der-zee-archive. 
6. Zorach, Rebecca. “Chicago May Profit by Selling ‘Knowledge and Wonder,’ but Children Will Lose.” Chicago Tribune, October 14, 2018. https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-art-legler-library-knowledge-wonder-1015-20181012-story.html. 
7. Douglas, Sarah. “Kerry James Marshall on Painting Sale: Chicago ‘Has Wrung Every Bit of Value They Could from the Fruits of My Labor.’” ARTnews.com, November 18, 2019. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/response-plan-sell-public-painting-kerry-james-marshall-chicago-city-wrung-every-bit-value-fruits-labor-11108/. 
8. Magazine, Smithsonian. “Chicago Cancels Sale of Kerry James Marshall’s ‘Knowledge and Wonder.’” Smithsonian.com, November 7, 2018. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/chicago-cancels-sale-important-piece-african-american-public-art-180970737/#:~:text=Christie’s%20also%20stepped%20back%20from,we%20were%20actively%20working%20towards. 
9. “Installation Views – MOMA.” MOMA. Accessed December 12, 2023. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/110565. 
10. McKeon, Lucy. “The Controversies of Kara Walker.” Hyperallergic, March 23, 2013. https://hyperallergic.com/67125/the-controversies-of-kara-walker/. 
11. McKeon, Lucy. “The Controversies of Kara Walker.” Hyperallergic, March 23, 2013. https://hyperallergic.com/67125/the-controversies-of-kara-walker/. 
12. McKeon, Lucy. “The Controversies of Kara Walker.” Hyperallergic, March 23, 2013. https://hyperallergic.com/67125/the-controversies-of-kara-walker/. 
13. McKeon, Lucy. “The Controversies of Kara Walker.” Hyperallergic, March 23, 2013. https://hyperallergic.com/67125/the-controversies-of-kara-walker/. 
14. Eallisom, Ralph. Invisible man. NEW YORK, NY: VINTAGE INTERNATIONAL, 1995.

Bibliography

“James Van Der Zee.” Studio Museum in Harlem. Accessed December 8, 2023. https://www.studiomuseum.org/artists/james-van-der-zee. 

Baum, Kelly, Maricelle Robles, and Sylvia Yount. “‘Harlem on Whose Mind?’: The Met and Civil Rights.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 17, 2021. 

Cooks, Bridget R. “Black Artists and Activism: Harlem on My Mind.” American Studies 48, no. 1 (2010): 5–39. https://doi.org/10.1353/ams.0.0137. 

“The Studio Museum in Harlem.” Studio Museum in Harlem. Accessed December 9, 2023. https://www.studiomuseum.org/history. 

Cascone, Sarah. “‘It’s the Right Decision’: Kerry James Marshall Applauds Chicago’s Choice Not to Auction His Painting That Hung at a Local Library.” Artnet News, November 6, 2018. https://news.artnet.com/market/chicago-library-cancels-planned-kerry-james-marshall-auction-1387459#:~:text=The%20city%20of%20Chicago%20has,including%20from%20the%20artist%20himself. 

Deb, Sopan. “Chicago Pulls Kerry James Marshall Painting from Auction Following Criticism.” The New York Times, November 5, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/05/arts/design/chicago-kerry-james-marshall-christies-auction.html. 

“KERRY JAMES MARSHALL’S KNOWLEDGE AND WONDER.” Christie’s, October 1, 2018. Christie’s. https://www.christies.com/presscenter/pdf/9140/RELEASE_Kerry%20James%20Marshall_9140_1.pdf. 

ELLISON, RALPH. Invisible man. NEW YORK, NY: VINTAGE INTERNATIONAL, 1995. 

McKeon, Lucy. “The Controversies of Kara Walker.” Hyperallergic, March 23, 2013. https://hyperallergic.com/67125/the-controversies-of-kara-walker/. 

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces the Establishment of the James Van Der Zee Archive in Partnership with The Studio Museum in Harlem Donna van Der Zee Announces next Chapter of Her Late Husband’s Archive.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Announces the Establishment of the James Van Der Zee Archive in Partnership with The Studio Museum in Harlem Donna Van Der Zee Announces Next Chapter of Her Late Husband’s Archive – The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accessed December 12, 2023. https://www.metmuseum.org/press/news/2021/james-van-der-zee-archive. 

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