#jackwhitten

Jack Whitten (1939 – 2018)

“I believe in the history of painting. Let’s go back to Franz Kline. Franz Kline helped me. He said to me and a group of younger artists one night, ‘The minute you walk into that studio, and you pick up that brush, you’re a part of history, and you will never be alone.” By God, did that help me, being black and so forth, being left out of shit and so forth, and Franz Kline saying, you’ll never be alone. You pick up that brush and you walk in that studio. Man, that’s meaningful. For a young artist to hear that coming from a master, I still stand by that, he’s right.” – Jack Whitten from an interview by Robert Storr, page. 60)

Image 1: Jack Whitten in his 40 Crosby Street studio, c 1976-78 on the back cover; photographer unknown.

Image 2: Front cover: “Self-Portrait I” (detail), 2014

Broken Spaces #5, Jack Whitten, 1974, MoMA: Drawings and Prints

Purchased with funds provided by Dian Woodner in honor of The Friends of Education of The Museum of Modern Art Size: 17 1/8 x 20 1/8" (43.5 x 51.1 cm) Medium: Toner on paper

#BlackResistance

The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) summarizes this year’s theme “Black Resistance” as follows: "African Americans have resisted historic and ongoing oppression, in all forms... These efforts have been to advocate for a dignified self-determined life in a just democratic society in the United States and beyond the United States political jurisdiction… This is a call to everyone, inside and outside the academy, to study the history of Black Americans’ responses to establish safe spaces, where Black life can be sustained, fortified, and respected. "

By resisting, Black people have achieved triumphs, successes, and progress. Black artists, along with other creatives, employ various media to tell stories and create change.

Here is another stack of books that celebrate Black artists whose work resists the status quo, challenges the system, and calls for awareness of the myriad of issues affecting Black people’s lives.

Barkley L. Hendricks : works on paper. HOLLIS: 99155235696303941

Barkley L. Hendricks : basketball. HOLLIS: 99155776869903941

Howardena Pindell : paintings, 1974-1980. HOLLIS: 990145322360203941

Kerry James Marshall : history of painting. HOLLIS: 99153829093703941

Emma Amos : color odyssey. HOLLIS: 99155279216703941

Jack Whitten : five decades of painting HOLLIS: 990145227350203941

Black artists in America : from the Great Depression to civil rights. HOLLIS: 99155993050103941

Roy DeCarava, a retrospective. HOLLIS: 990067852100203941

Gordon Parks : the Flávio story HOLLIS: 99153691397803941

“I was 21 in 1960, an African American male with an acute need to know myself. The politics of race accelerated my search for identity. Growing up in the South where I experienced racism in its most blatant forms, political boundaries were clearly drawn and based solely upon race. Diverse elements, opposing forces, dichotomy of means, polarities, [and] portraits of psychological space are conceptualizations used in my paintings. All are derived from the nature of politics in America with its distinct separation of black and white.”

“I have always accepted memory as being one of the most powerful elements of human consciousness. Through memory we reconstruct our past. We honor the dead through memory.” – Jack Whitten (from Walker Center magazine article, “Stories of the Soul: A Farewell to Jack Whitten”)

Jack Whitten (1939 – 2018) is known for his innovative process of applying paint on canvases and experimenting with materials in his painting. His style was abstract, but he liked to refer to his art as “mapping the soul.”

Born in Bessemer, Alabama, Whitten moved to New York in 1960. He was inspired by his experiences during the Civil Rights Movement, and he created many works dedicated to influential Black figures in the United States, including Ralph Ellison, Muhammad Ali, Barbara Jordan, and President Barack Obama. Whitten’s work reflected his beliefs in restoring the culture and legacy of his people through art.

Image 1: Jack Whitten in the studio (page spread)

Image 2: Jack Whitten in the studio (page spread)

Image 3: “Black Monolith IV For Jacob Lawrence”2001, Acrylic on Canvas, 96 x 96 in. Courtesy the artist, Alexander Gray Associates, New York; Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp.

Jack Whitten (1939 – 2018) was born in Bessemer, Alabama. Growing up in the segregated South, he was often angered by the racism he experienced and got involved in the civil rights movement in his youth. His experiences with anti-black racism shaped his worldview, which he embodied in his art by extending the meaning of abstraction in his chosen medium of paint in a way that was truly unique.

“My African American identity shaped by the politics of racism in America makes it extremely difficult for me to experience the leisure of being apolitical. Every artist recognizes the “immediateness” of being apolitical as a selfish narcissistic defense mechanism. It is an existentialist right to reject the world in order to commune with the self. History has proven that the apolitical is a dangerous political choice and that there is a price to pay under certain circumstances” – J.W. (Jack Whitten: Jack's Jacks, page 198)

“… I trust red, yellow … all pigments embody truth. We must be careful and allow them to speak for themselves. Stop imposing meaning to colors. They don’t need your help. You set up the support, i.e., the scaffolding, and they will take care of the rest.” – J.W. (page 42)

Check out our previous post on Jack Whitten’s work.

Image 1: Front cover Image 2: “Self-portrait: Entrainment” 2008 Image 3: “Self-portrait: Entrainment” detail