#jackwhitten

[harvardfineartslib]

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

Jack Whitten : five decades of painting San Diego : Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego ; New York : Available through D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers, [2015] English HOLLIS number: 990145227350203941

[artbookdap]

"There’s a lot of sounds out there that we haven’t heard yet. I also say that there’s a lot of colors out there that we haven’t seen yet. And for damn sure, there’s a lot of feelings out there that we have not felt yet. I take some comfort in that, because it gives me an optimism towards life; and I know when I wake up tomorrow morning, I got something to do."⁠ —Jack Whitten, quoted by 'Jack Whitten: Cosmic Soul' author Richard Shiff, from a public presentation by Whitten at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, in 2015⁠ ⁠ Read more about this remarkable new monograph, our Black History Month book of the day, via linkinbio.⁠ ⁠ Artwork is: "Escalation II (x2 + y2 = 1), For Alexander Grothendieck" (2014), courtesy of the publisher, @hauserwirth⁠ ⁠ #jackwhitten #jackwhittencosmicsoul #richardshiff #blackhistory #blackhistorymonth #abstractpainting #escalation #jackwhittenescalation https://www.instagram.com/p/CoPpGwYO17I/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[moma-prints]

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

http://www.moma.org/collection/works/110296

[supportblackart]

Jack Whitten (1939-2018) was an African-American painter and sculptor. Alabama born, Whitten was a pre-med student before heading to Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to study art. He continued his studies in NYC at Cooper Union after watching Martin Luther King Jr speak in Montgomery, Alabama, completing a BFA in 1964. Dubbed the father of New Abstraction, Jack employed unique techniques and materials in his carvings and paintings. In an interview with Jarrett Earnest, Whitten describes the direct method, which used pieces of stone, marble, precious metal or glass (tesserae) placed in a way to govern and reflect light in his paintings. Prior to his death in 2018, he agreed to have 40 of his sculptures unveiled for the first time at the Baltimore Museum of Art, interspersed with 18 paintings. Jack split his time between Queens, NY and Crete, Greece. In his work are the layers of the Civil Rights movement, the Black experience and rebirth of self. Integrating spirituality and heavily influenced by mosaics throughout Europe, his work may seem unconventional at first glance and forces the viewer to take a step back to see the soul in what’s presented as well as in self. Some of his work can be viewed in the Brooklyn Museum as a part of the Soul of A Nation retrospective. #supportblackart #jackwhitten #blackartstory https://www.instagram.com/p/BtZi2LyhtDI/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=3hnkp4f94poh

[blittman]

#jackwhitten @metbreuer (at The Met Breuer) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpC9jzkBix5/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=96ygtjk42o0r

[harvardfineartslib]

#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

Gordon Parks : the new tide, early work, 1940-1950. HOLLIS: 99153723466203941

[harvardfineartslib]

“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 : five decades of painting with contributions by Kathryn Kanjo, Robert Storr, Quincy Troupe. Whitten, Jack, 1939-2018 [artist] San Diego : Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego ; New York : Available through D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers, [2015] 203 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), portraits ; 31 cm English HOLLIS number: 990145227350203941

[harvardfineartslib]

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

Jack Whitten: Jack's Jacks For the Nationalgalerie - Staatliche Museen zu Berlin edited by Udo Kittelmann, Sven Beckstette; authors: Sven Beckstette [and 7 others]. Published: Berlin, Germany : Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin ; Munich, Germany: Prestel, [2019] Manufactured: Passau, Germany : Passavia. 237 pages: illustrations, portraits (chiefly color); 30 cm Parallel texts in English and German. "Jack Whitten: Jack's Jacks":, March 29-September 1, 2019, Hamburger Bahnhof, Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, Germany. Author / Creator Whitten, Jack, 1939-2018 [artist] Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz [issuing body, organizer, host institution] Prestel Verlag [issuing body] ISBN : 9783791358628 ISBN : 3791358626 2019 HOLLIS number: 99153820122703941