Ashe to Amen: African Americans and Biblical Imagery

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Tahlib

"Baby Jesus and Three Wise Men" (c. 1960) by Clementine Hunter

NEW YORK---This month, the Museum of Biblical Art will mark Black History Month with an amazing new exhibition examining the complex place of the Bible in the life and art of African Americans, with particular emphasis on how biblical traditions were used by artists of African descent to help cope with the life that was imposed on them in the Americas. The press release notes that the majority of the works included in the exhibition date from the 19th and 20th centuries, they often reflect the experiences of the Middle Passage and slavery, which left their indelible mark on the artistic consciousness of the African American community. Specific artists whose works are in the exhibition include the well-known Romare Bearden, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Clementine Hunter (above), and Henry Ossawa Tanner as well as those who have become established during the past decades, including Oletha DeVane, Rashida Bumbray, and Xenobia Bailey.

Museum of Biblical Art: "Ashe to Amen: African Americans and Biblical Imagery", February 15 - May 26, 2013. 1865 Broadway at 61st Street, New York, NY, mobianyc.org, (212) 408-1500.