Creating Their Own Image: The History of African-American Women Artists

Hailed as "a captivating and thorough study of a long-ignored aspect of America's art history" (CHOICE), Creating Their Own Image offers the first comprehensive history of African-American women artists, spanning from slavery to the Harlem Renaissance and the tumultuous civil rights era, right up to the present day. Lavishly illustrated throughout with color illustrations, this magnificent volume richly details hundreds of important works--including some images never before published--to present a portrait of artistic creativity unprecedented in its scope and ambition. Weaving together an expansive collection of artists, styles, and periods, Lisa Farrington argues that for centuries African-American women artists have created an alternative vision of how women of color can, are, and might be represented in American culture. From utilitarian objects such as quilts and baskets to a wide array of fine arts, Creating Their Own Image serves up compelling evidence of the fundamental human need to convey one's life, emotions, and experiences on a canvas of one's own making.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Part I Ch. 1 The Image Ch. 2 Creativity and the Era of Slavery Ch. 3 The 19th Century Professional Vanguard Ch. 4 The Harlem Renaissance and the New Negro Ch. 5 The New Negro and the New Deal Ch. 6 Civil Rights and Black Power Ch. 7 Black Feminist Art Part II Ch. 8 Abstract Explorations Ch. 9 Conceptualism: Art as Idea Ch. 10 Vernacular Artists: Against the Odds Ch. 11 Postmodern Pluralism Ch. 12 "Post Black" and the New Millennium Notes/ Bibliography/ Index

About the Author :
Lisa E. Farrington is Chairperson and Professor in the Department of Art & Music at John Jay College. Her books include Faith Ringgold and Art on Fire: The Politics of Race and Sex in the Paintings of Faith Ringgold.

Review :
"Creating Their Own Image: The History of African-American Women Artists is an exemplary piece of scholarship. Rich in information and images, it is contextualized in socio-economic, political and artistic facts. This tome is a brilliant history reflecting the aesthetics and the social and metaphysical traditions of African-American women artists and their artistry. A Must Read!!"--Tritobia Hayes-Benjamin, Howard University "Farrington's survey work fills gaps in the history of American art, and should keep these artists from being overlooked in the future."--CHOICE "A clearly written and beautifully illustrated text that presents the myriad and nuanced experiences, visions, and talents of African-American women artists."--April F. Masten, Reviews in American History "From 'women's work' in fabric art of the slavery era to 'post-black' artists working in a stunning range of styles and mediums, Lisa Farrington's Creating Their Own Image presents an important survey of the extraordinary contributions African-American women artists---unknown and known, past and present---have made and continue to make to our visual culture. This is a book we will consult, and enjoy, often."--Henry Louis Gates, Jr., W. E. B. Du Bois Professor of the Humanities, Harvard University "Farrington gives the reader a layered narrative and a dazzling array of artworks....It is the kind of book anyone interested in art, women's art, or African American art will want to own and refer to constantly. Anyone teaching women's studies, gender studies, or African American women's studies will want to own this as well."--History "This is the book that teachers and students have been waiting for. Farrington provides a cohesive, accessible, and historically contextualized overview of the work of African-American women artists. And she offers here as well a thought-provoking analysis of how the politics of modernism and postmodernism have affected their most recent efforts to gain control over 'their own image.'"--Norma Broude, Professor of Art History, American University and Co-editor, The Power of Feminist Art: The American Movement of the 1970s, History and Impact "A captivating and thorough study of a long-ignored aspect of America's art history....is highly recommended for all academic and public libraries."--CHOICE "Lisa Farrington has left few, if any, stones unturned as she surveys the significant contribution that African American women artists have made to world art. Creating Their Own Image: The History of African-American Women Artists cogently tells it all. This book is a must for all who wish to enhance their knowledge of American art."--David C. Driskell, Distinguished University Professor of Art, Emeritus, University of Maryland "Historical surveys can be tedious and stodgy, but Farrington's personal engagement in her subject matter and her emotional investment in the politics of race, gender and personal expression make Creating Their Own Image an exciting--and disturbing--read....Lavishly illustrated, exhaustively researched....A magnificent achievement."--San Francisco Chronicle