The Art of History: African American Women Artists Engage the Past

"This important study is the first to confront head-on the avoidance of the visual that has plagued black studies in the United States. The Art of History opens the often hermetic world of black visual culture to a much broader realm in which questions central to contemporary feminism, black studies, and cultural theory are brought to bear."-Judith Wilson, University of California, Irvine

"The Art of History is an important book that expands the significance of visual culture to African American studies debates. It provides cogent and insightful explorations of the work of contemporary African American women artists. Scholars and general readers alike are sure to be compelled by this original and innovative study."-Valerie Smith, author of Not Just Race, Not Just Gender: Black Feminist Readings

In this lively and engaging book, Lisa Gail Collins examines the work of contemporary African American women artists. Her study comes at a time when an unprecedented number of these artists-photographers, filmmakers, painters, installation and mixed-media artists-have garnered the attention and imagination of the art-viewing public.

To better understand the significance of this particular historical moment in American visual arts, Collins focuses on four "problems" that recur when these artists confront their histories: the documentation of truth; the status of the black female body; the relationship between art and cultural contact and change; and the relationship between art and black girlhood. By examining the social and cultural histories which African American women artists engage, Collins illuminates a dialogue between past and present imagemakers.

The Art of History is a major contribution to the study of American visual culture. It will be of use to both scholars and students in art history, African American studies, American studies, and women's studies.

Author: Lisa Gail Collins
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Published: 03/01/2002
Pages: 178
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 9.90h x 6.80w x 0.30d
ISBN: 9780813530222

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 12/15/2001 pg. 712
Choice 12/01/2002 pg. 620
Multicultural Review 03/01/2003 pg. 72
Booklist 03/01/2002 pg. 1082

About the Author
Lisa Gail Collins teaches in the art history department and the Africana studies program at Vassar College.