June 16, 2006

NY Historical Society opens slavery art show

As part of its 18-month exhibition of slavery, the New-York Historical Society today opened what may very well be the first contemporary art show focusing on slavery, according to the curators.

"Legacies: Contemporary Artists Reflect on Slavery" isn't as depressing as it may sound, with four rooms filled with paintings, sculptures, quilts, video and a giant camera obscura big enough for people to climb inside.

"This is a way to convey the history and see the legacy," said Lowery Stokes Sims, the president of the Studio Museum of Harlem and the leader of the curatorial team for the NYHS exhibition. "The legacy isn't always negative. It provides historical context and a way to look at the past, and move on."

The exhibitions includes several works created just for this show, as well as Faith Ringgold's "Slave Rape Story Quilt" from 1985 and Malcolm Bailey's 1965 "Hold, Separate but Equal," which imagines the separate but equal quaters on a slave ship.

While most of the exhibition focuses on Africans brought to the United States as slaves, there is also a video from the American Anti-Slavery Group about modern day slavery, including interviews with escapees.

The contemporary art show, which runs through January 7, will overlap with the upcoming "New York Divided, Slavery and the Civil War, 1815-1870," which will run from November 17 through April 15. "New York Divided" is the follow-up to last year's "Slavery in New York," which focused on the 17th century through 1827. The show, which is still on display at the museum as a smaller permanent exhibition, drew 175,000 visitors plus 70,000 students making it a record-breaking run for the museum.

Part II promises to astonish people equally, NYHS President and CEO said during the media preview on Thursday. Most people don't realize that New York City officials wanted to secede from the United States before the Civil War in hpes of preserving the 38 cents of every dollar earned in the roduction of cotton that went to NYC's shippers, traders and insurers.

The New-York Historical Society is located at 170 Central Park West, just across the street from the American Museum of Natural History, map.

Images provided by NYHS. Top: Renee Cox "Queen Nanny: Maroom Series," 2004. Edition of 3. Color digital inkjet print on watercolor paper. Courtesy Robert Miller Gallery, New York.

Malcolm Bailey, "Hold, Separate but Equal," 1969. Synthetic polymer paint, presstype, watercolor, and enamel on composition board. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, gift of Barbara Jakonson and John R. Jakobson.

Earlier: Final days of 'Slavery in NY' at Historical Society
NYHS extends 'Slavery' exhibit, reports record draw
'Slavery in New York' explores city's forgotten past

June 16, 2006 02:32 PM in History, Kids, Museums, Sightsology, Upper West Side

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