Artist Faith Ringgold was recently featured in the BBC One documentary art series Imagine in which she was interviewed in her native Harlem at the 125th Street (2/3) subway station about her #MTAArts mosaic project “Flying Home: Harlem Heroes and Heroines (Downtown and Uptown)” (1996). Now in her late 80s, Ringgold is considered one of the most important African American artists, whose work is increasingly relevant today. “Flying Home” is a mosaic mural that honors notable people from Harlem and makes them fly. The title is based on a Lionel Hampton song which Ringgold heard as a child and sought to capture its spirit in this work, by posing the figures as if they were in flight.
The BBC film is not available for streaming in the US, but if you are in the UK, here is the link! Ringgold’s work is currently featured in her first solo institutional exhibition in Europe at the Serpentine Gallery in London through September 8th.