Acrylic on canvas with fabric collage and African fabric borders
Dimensions:
Stretcher: 165.1 × 114.3 cm (65 × 45")
Type:
Painting
Place:
United States\New York\Kings\New York
Date:
1991
Exhibition Label:
Born Atlanta, Georgia
New York-based painter, printmaker, textile designer, activist, and educator Emma Amos once stated: “It’s always been my contention, that for me, a black woman artist, to walk into the studio is a political act.” In 1964, she became the only woman to join the pathbreaking African American artists’ group Spiral (active 1963–65), at the invitation of muralist Hale Woodruff.
This autobiographical painting from Amos’s Falling Figures series (1988–92) depicts the artist holding an oversized photograph of her mother, India, who died when Amos was forty-two. The photograph was taken when her mother was a college student, before the artist was born. In this intergenerational self-portrait, Amos shows the power of images of loved ones to ground us in times of anxiety and retain memories over time. The incorporation of a black-and-white photograph also alludes to the importance of studio photographs and family albums in preserving family histories.
Nacida en Atlanta, Georgia
Emma Amos, pintora, grabadora, diseñadora textil, activista y educadora radicada en Nueva York, dijo: “Siempre he opinado que, para una mujer artista negra como yo, el simple hecho de entrar en el estudio es un acto político”. En 1964, invitada por el muralista Hale Woodruff, pasó a ser la primera mujer dentro del vanguardista grupo de artistas afroamericanos Spiral (activo 1963–65).
En esta pintura autobiográfica de su serie Falling Figures (1988–92), Amos sostiene una enorme fotografía de su madre, India, que murió cuando la artista tenía 42 años. La foto data de cuando India era estudiante universitaria, antes de nacer su hija. En este autorretrato intergeneracional, Amos propone que las imágenes de los seres queridos pueden anclarnos en momentos de ansiedad y ser repositorio de recuerdos. La inserción de una foto en blanco y negro también alude a la importancia de los retratos de estudio y los álbumes de familia para preservar las historias familiares.
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and National Portrait Gallery, Museum Purchase through the American Women’s History Initiative Acquisitions Pool administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative and generously supported by American Express
