We Carry Generations

With this exhibition, STELLA JONES GALLERY highlights over 50 Black Artists who pay tribute to the significant contributions of Black women of the 19th and 20th centuries. This exhibition features a rich cross-section of artists whose narratives and varying technique bring to life two centuries of Black women’s stories for a contemporary audience. While there is no universal approach to the ongoing conversation of Black culture and identity, many of these artists rely heavily on motifs and themes specific to African Americans.

Artists include legacy, emerging, mid-level and established artists. CHARLY PALMER offers drawings of heroines created for his current book, "The New Brownie's Book: A Love Letter to Black Families." CHRIS MALONE uses clay, beads and other media to create a sculpture inspired by dancers Pearl Primus, Misty Copeland and Michaela DePrince. AYO SCOTT brings the story of the “Me Too” movement to life with a portrait of its founder, Tarana Burke. CARL JOE WILLIAMS introduces us to women who made a difference in his personal life with a tryptic of his mother, aunt and grandmother.

Among the legacy artists whose work continues to set the bar and to influence those who follow, ELIZABETH CATLETT’s Mother and Son lithograph, SAMELLA LEWIS’ original sketches and GWEN KNIGHT’s serigraph, The Girl, offer differing views of what it means to be a woman and Black in America.