Artist Faith Ringgold, artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist, and curator Melissa Blanchflower discuss Ringgold’s longstanding career and current exhibition at Serpentine Galleries. | Video by Serpentine Galleries
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions
SERPENTINE GALLERIES is presenting a five-decade survey of pioneering American artist Faith Ringgold, 88. Throughout her career, Ringgold has worked at the intersection of art and politics. Exploring many bodies of work dating from 1963 to 2010, the show spans the civil rights and Black Power eras and continues a decade into the 21st century. “Most artists were deterred from telling the story of what African Americans were dealing with in those days,” the artist says. “It was not a good picture of America and if they showed that story, they would not be shown. Their work would not be seen. So they didn’t do it, I guess. I did.” The exhibition features 43 paintings, political posters, and story quilts. Ringgold’s American People (1963-67), Feminist (1972-73), and Black Light (1969) series anchor the show. Also included are her political posters (1970-72), Slave Rape (1972) and Windows of the Wedding (1974) series, and early quilts (1983-1988), along with her Jazz Stories (2004) and Coming to Jones Road (2000, 2010) works, among other selections. The exhibition is the Englewood, N.J.-based artist’s first solo show at a European institution. CT
“Faith Ringgold” is on view at Serpentine Galleries, London, June 6 – Sept. 8, 2019
FIND MORE about the exhibition
Installation view of FAITH RINGGOLD, Serpentine Galleries, London, 2019. © 2019 Faith Ringgold, Photo by readsreads.info: From left, “American Collection #1: We Came to America,” 1997 (acrylic on canvas, 74.5 x 79.5 inches / 189.2 x 201.9 cm) | Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter; and “The American Collection #6: The Flag is Bleeding #2,” 1997 (acrylic on canvas with painted and pieced border, 76 x 79.5 inches / 193 x 201.9 cm). | Private Collection, courtesy Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London
FAITH RINGGOLD, “The American Collection #6: The Flag is Bleeding #2,” 1997 (acrylic on canvas with painted and pieced border, 76 x 79.5 inches / 193 x 201.9 cm). | Private Collection, courtesy Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London
Installation view of FAITH RINGGOLD, Serpentine Galleries, London, 2019. © 2019 Faith Ringgold, Photo by readsreads.info: From left, “Slave Rape #1 of 3: Fear Will Make You Weak,” 1972 (oil on canvas, 86 x 48 inches / 218.4 x 121.9 cm. | Private Collection, courtesy Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London; “Slave Rape #2 of 3: Run You Might Get Away,” 1972 (oil on canvas, 87 x 48 inches / 221 x 121.9 cm). | Private Collection, courtesy Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London; and “Slave Rape #3 of 3: Fight to Save Your Life,” 1972 (oil on canvas, 87 x 48 inches / 221 x 121.9 cm. | Private Collection, courtesy Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London
FAITH RINGGOLD, “American People #9: The American Dream,” 1964 (oil on canvas, 36 x 24 inches / 91.4 x 60.9 cm). | Private Collection
Installation view of FAITH RINGGOLD, Serpentine Galleries, London, 2019. © 2019 Faith Ringgold, Photo by readsreads.info: From left, FAITH RINGGOLD, “American People #9: The American Dream” (1964); “American People #6: Mr. Charlie,” 1964 (oil on canvas, 33 x 18 inches, 83.8 x 45.7 cm). | Courtesy the artist and ACA Galleries, New York; and “A Man Kissing His Wife” (1964).
FAITH RINGGOLD, “A Man Kissing His Wife,” 1964 (oil on masonite, 19 x 12 inches / 48.2 x 30.5 cm). | Private Collection, courtesy Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London
Installation view of FAITH RINGGOLD, Serpentine Galleries, London, 2019. © 2019 Faith Ringgold, Photo by readsreads.info: From left, “Jazz Stories: Mama Can Sing Papa Can Blow #1: Somebody Stole My Broken Heart” (2004); and “Coming to Jones Road Part 1: #4 Under A Blood Red Sky,” 2000 (acrylic on canvas with painted and pieced border, 78.5 x 52.5 inches / 199.4 x 133.3 cm). | Courtesy the artist and ACA Galleries, New York
FAITH RINGGOLD, “Jazz Stories: Mama Can Sing Papa Can Blow #1: Somebody Stole My Broken Heart,” 2004 (acrylic on canvas with painted and pieced border, 81 x 66.5 inches / 205.7 x 168.9 cm). | Courtesy the artist and ACA Galleries, New York
Installation view of FAITH RINGGOLD, Serpentine Galleries, London, 2019. © 2019 Faith Ringgold, Photo by readsreads.info: From left, “Black Light #9: American Spectrum,” 1969 (oil on canvas, 18 x 72 inches / 45.7 x 182.9 cm). | Courtesy JPMorgan Chase Art Collection; and “Black Light #11: US America Black,” 1969 (oil on canvas, 60 x 84 inches / 152.4 x 213.3 cm). | Courtesy the artist and ACA Galleries, New York
FAITH RINGGOLD, “American People #15: Hide Little Children,” 1966 (oil on canvas, 26 x 48 inches / 66 x 121.9 cm). | Courtesy Seth Taffae and Juan Rodriguez
Installation view of FAITH RINGGOLD, Serpentine Galleries, London, 2019. © 2019 Faith Ringgold, Photo by readsreads.info: “Who’s Afraid of Aunt Jemima?,” 1983 (acrylic on canvas, 90 x 80 inches / 228.6 x 203.2 cm), Serpentine Galleries, London. | Courtesy the artist and ACA Galleries, New York
Installation view of FAITH RINGGOLD, Serpentine Galleries, London, 2019. © 2019 Faith Ringgold, Photo by readsreads.info: “American People #19: US Postage Stamp Commemorating the Advent of Black Power,” 1967 (oil on canvas, 72 x 96 inches / 182.8 x 243.8). | Courtesy the artist and ACA Galleries, New York
BOOKSHELF
Recently published by the Museum of Modern Art, “Faith Ringgold: Die (One on One),” considers the artist’s painting “American People Series #20: Die” (1967). “American People, Black Light: Faith Ringgold’s Paintings of the 1960s” coincided with her traveling exhibition. Faith Ringgold’s early activism is documented in Susan E. Cahan’s book, “Mounting Frustration: The Art Museum in the Age of Black Power.” Her work is also featured in the catalogs for two sweeping exhibitions documenting the experiences of black women artists (We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85: “Sourcebook” and “New Perspectives”), and the wide variety of ways African American artists expressed themselves in the 1960s and 70s (“Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power”).
