This innovative and comprehensive book approaches African Art from a historical perspective rather than an anthropological perspective. A History of Art in Africa shows how African Art has developed from beliefs, traditions, cultural and historical influences. It challenges current perceptions of African Art and presents it as intellectual and intentional in it's own right, rather than as intuitive or “primal” impulses, as it has been previously perceived. The book also covers the entire continent of Africa, including Egypt, and incorporates the creative influences of Islamic and Christian religious artistic traditions as well. A discussion of contemporary Africa Art includes the works of the Diaspora. Five part organization of the book's content allows the user to select which geographical area of the continent to explore first. Useful to anyone interested in African Art or art history.

A History of Art In Africa

Arts & Photography

Harris, Michael D.

Cole, Herbert M.

Visonà, Monica Blackmun

Poyner, Robin

History & Criticism

Pearson College Div

"Transatlantic Dialogue" opens an exciting cultural dialogue at the crossroads where Western and African art traditions intersect. Despite diversity of media, technique, and form, these contemporary African and African American art works and the artists who created them are united by a rich network of connections, exchanges, and associations generated from both shores of the Middle Passage. Collected in this book are 24 color reproductions of the art of seven African artists: Skunder Boghossian, Sokari Douglas Camp, Rashid Diab, Amir Nour, Moyo Ogundipe, Moyo Okediji, and Ouattara - and seven African American artists: Jean-Michel Basquiat, John Biggers, Jeff Donaldson, Yvonne Edwards-Tucker, Winnie Owens-Hart, Charles Searles, and Al Smith. Paintings, mixed media, sculptures, and ceramics reflect issues of identity while expressing beauty, pulsating rhythms, and a sense of improvisation among bursts of colour and quieter, more contemplative moments. American artist and scholar Michael D. Harris and Nigerian artist and scholar Moyo Okediji construct a dialogue in companion essays that explore departures and arrivals, connections and distinctions between contemporary African and African American artists. Although the influence of African art on African American artists has received considerable attention, this book is among the first to discuss the influence of African American art on African artists, an exchange that continues to produce art that is both culturally unique and aesthetically rich. Michael D. Harris is assistant professor of African and African American art history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Moyo Okediji is assistant professor of art at the University of Denver and assistant curator at the Denver Art Museum.

Transatlantic Dialogue: Contemporary Art in and Out of Africa

National Museum of African Art (U. S.)

Ackland Art Museum

Okediji, Moyo

Okediji, Moyosore B.

Dusable Museum of African-American History

Univ of Washington Pr

Colored Pictures: Race and Visual Representation

In this book, artist and art historian Michael Harris investigates the role of visual representation in the construction of black identities, both real and imagined, in the United States. He focuses particularly on how African American artists have responded to--and even used--stereotypical images in their own works. Harris shows how, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, racial stereotypes became the dominant mode through which African Americans were represented. These characterizations of blacks formed a substantial part of the foundation of white identity and social power. They also, Harris argues, seeped into African Americans' self-images and undermined their self-esteem. Harris traces black artists' responses to racist imagery across two centuries, from early works by Henry O. Tanner and Archibald J. Motley Jr., in which African Americans are depicted with dignity, to contemporary works by Kara Walker and Michael Ray Charles, in which derogatory images are recycled to controversial effect. The work of these and other artists--such as John Biggers, Jeff Donaldson, Betye Saar, Juan Logan, and Camille Billops--reflects a wide range of perspectives. Examined together, they offer compelling insight into the profound psychological impact of visual stereotypes on the African American community.

Univ of North Carolina Pr

The University of North Carolina Press

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Books by Harris, Michael D.