In 2012, Dindga McCannon paid tribute to Black women in aviation.
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions
A CO-FOUNDER OF THE ARTIST COLLECTIVE Where We At Black Women Artists, Dindga McCannon established her artistic identity during the Civil Rights Movement and the onset of the feminist arts movement, concerns that inform her work today. McCannon is embarking on a new chapter in her career and garnering hard won critical attention. She joined Fridman Gallery in New York last November. Earlier this month, the gallery featured McCannon in its Armory Show booth and at the end of the year will devote its entire booth to a survey of the artist at Art Basel Miami Beach. Her new exhibition at the gallery, “Dindga McCannon: In Plain Sight,” is billed as the artist’s first major solo show in her five-decade career. The first publication dedicated to her work accompanies the exhibition. McCannon is showing paintings, prints, and textiles, including fabric collage and quilts produced from the 1980s to present. The works pay homage to African and African American culture, reference historical memory, and celebrate phenomenal Black women past and present—known icons and public figures, as well as her family and friends. Born in New York, McCannon lives and works in Philadelphia. CT
“Dindga McCannon: In Plain Sight” is on view at Fridman Gallery, 169 Bowery, New York, N.Y., from Sept. 8-Oct. 17, 2021
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Installation view of “Dindga McCannon: In Plain Sight,” Fridman Gallery, 169 Bowery, New York, N.Y. (Sept. 8-Oct. 17, 2021). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy Fridman Gallery
DINDGA MCCANNON, The Sisters, 2020 (oil on canvas, 40h x 40w inches). | Courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery
DINDGA MCCANNON, “To Carol Blank In Memory WWA Artist – Harlem Women Series,” 2021 (mixed media and acrylic on canvas, 14 h x 11 w x 2 d inches). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery
DINDGA MCCANNON, “125th Street Revisited,” 2020 (mixed Media on Canvas, 23 h x 63 w inches). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery
Installation view of “Dindga McCannon: In Plain Sight,” Fridman Gallery, 169 Bowery, New York, N.Y. (Sept. 8-Oct. 17, 2021). | Courtesy Fridman Gallery
DINDGA MCCANNON, “Sarah’s Story (South Africa),” 2015 (mixed media quilt, 84 h x 19 w inches). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery
DINDGA MCCANNON, “The Magal-Senegal, Tribute to Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba,” 2016 (mixed media quilt, 34 h x 44 w inches). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery
Installation view of “Dindga McCannon: In Plain Sight,” Fridman Gallery, 169 Bowery, New York, N.Y. (Sept. 8-Oct. 17, 2021). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy Fridman Gallery
DINDGA MCCANNON, “Lavinia Williams, Legendary Dancer, Choreographer, and Teacher,” 2018 (mixed media quilt 20 h x 39 w inches). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery
DINDGA MCCANNON, “Blues Queens,” 2021 (mixed media quilt). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery
DINDGA MCCANNON, “The Coronation of Queen Mother Moore,” 2015 (mixed media quilt, 30 h x 37 w inches). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery
Installation view of “Dindga McCannon: In Plain Sight,” Fridman Gallery, 169 Bowery, New York, N.Y. (Sept. 8-Oct. 17, 2021). | Courtesy Fridman Gallery
Installation view of “Dindga McCannon: In Plain Sight,” Fridman Gallery, 169 Bowery, New York, N.Y. (Sept. 8-Oct. 17, 2021). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy Fridman Gallery
DINDGA MCCANNON, “Khadiya – Harlem Women’s Series,” 2021 (mixed media on canvas, 14 h x 11 w x 2 d inches). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery
DINDGA MCCANNON, “Michelle – Harlem Women’s Series,” 2020 (oil on canvas, 10.04 h x 7.87 w inches). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery
DINDGA MCCANNON, “Sisters’ Masks,” 2014 (mixed media quilt, 56 h x 12 w inches). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery
DINDGA MCCANNON, “A Woman’s Work is Never Done, A Tribute to Faith Ringgold on her 80th Birthday,” 2011 (mixed media quilt, 36 h x 26 w inches). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery
DINDGA MCCANNON, “THE JOHNSON SISTERS – ONE WAS MEANER THAN THE OTHER – Harlem Women’s Series,” 2021 (oil on canvas, 8 h x 10 w inches). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery
DINDGA MCCANNON, Pa-Ti- Designer to the Stars Mart 125 1980’s, 2021 (mixed media on canvas, 14 h x 11 w x 2 d inches). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery
DINDGA MCCANNON, “Words from the Threads of Our Experiences,” 2015 (mixed Media Quilt, 33 h x 22 w inches). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery
Installation view of “Dindga McCannon: In Plain Sight,” Fridman Gallery, 169 Bowery, New York, N.Y. (Sept. 8-Oct. 17, 2021). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy Fridman Gallery
DINDGA MCCANNON, “125th St Revisited Yesterday and Today,” 2020 (acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 29 h x 64 w inches). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery
TOP IMAGE: DINDGA MCCANNON, “Why Did it Take So Long? (Black Women in Aviation),” 2012 (mixed media quilt, 59 h x 59 w inches). | © Dindga McCannon, Courtesy the artist and Fridman Gallery
FIND MORE about Dindga McCannon on her website
BOOKSHELF
Fridman Gallery published a catalog to accompany the exhibition. “Dindga McCannon: In Plain Sight” is the first publication dedicated exclusively to her practice and includes essays by Tammi Lawson, curator at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, and Niama Safia Sandy, the gallery’s inaugural curator-and-writer-in-residence. Dindga McCannon’s work was featured in the landmark exhibition “We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85.” Two publications were produced to coincide with the show: Sourcebook featuring an invaluable collection of historic articles about Black women artist’s activities, insights, challenges, and triumphs navigating the art world, and New Perspectives, a collection of original essays. Over the years, McCannon has illustrated and written several books for children and young readers, including “Peaches,” “Children of the Night,” “Sati the Rastifarian,” and “Wilhemina Jones, Future Star: A Novel.”
