vendredi 20 septembre 2013

Museums in New York City: The Studio Museum Harlem

By Tia Dryer


For some considerable time, the Studio Museum in Harlem was the sole significant cultural center for art by African Americans. It still is one of the most important museums in N. Y, and on the planet , for art that chronicles the African-American experience, especially though not exclusively in urban environments. The work demonstrated here includes African-American works and Twentieth century Afro-Caribbean pieces, as well as normal African art and artifacts. The social aspect of art is clearly on display in the permanent collection of the Studio Museum, as well as a consistent theme of searching for the African identity in an American context.

The Studio Museum has gathered a tremendous amount of recognition from the community of museums in New York City, as a whole due to its Artists in Residence program, which allows one or more emerging studio and gallery artists of African descent to reside on location while they create. This allows the artists to do their artwork, network with members of the community and begin successful careers as artists. Additionally, the museum serves as a heart for the Harlem arts community by hosting panels, dialogues, lectures, classes and performances on a wide range of current affairs related to the African-American experience.



Located on 125th St, fifteen blocks north of Central Park in Harlem, the Studio Museum is very much an organic product of its location. This Harlem museum is close to a considerable number of other famous locales, including the legendary Apollo Theater. Down the road, the NYC Public Libraryis 1 or 2 blocks east, and there are also a bunch of parks, including the Morningstar Park and Central Park. The neighborhood itself is a historic landmark, full of plaques and notes of importance. Once a ghetto for released slaves and persons fleeing the repressive Jim Crow laws in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Harlem became a cultural treasure across the 1920s and continues to play a crucial role in African-American culture.

The permanent collection of the Studio Museum in Harlem is composed of over 1,600 works by noted African-American artists, both in the Harlem community and around the country. These artists, including Melvin Edwards, Robert Colescott, Terry Adkins, Norman Lewis, Hector Hyppolite, Lois Mailou Jones, Betye Saar, Nari Ward and others have all had an effect on the art world as well as throughout the larger African-American community. The overall theme of all the work inside this museum is the Black identity; the museum is an important and fascinating location for everybody with a healthy interest in American history to go to visit and take in. Specific themes include black liberation politics, dance, expressionism, roots and music, as well as the subjects of bigotry, sexism and the urban experience. These subjects may be questionable to some visitors, but they represent a timely, crucial discussion throughout the larger American culture about the roles, perceptions and expectations of African-Americans in it, and it is one of many significant museums in NY to study a selection of ideas, old and new.




About the Author:



Aucun commentaire:

Enregistrer un commentaire