30 Americans

Sirmans, Franklin

Wallace, Michele

Hobbs, Robert

Shaw, Gwendolyn DuBois

Ligon, Glenn

Roselione-valadez, Juan

Rubell Museum

Nationally celebrated as one of the most important exhibitions of contemporary art in the United States within the last decade, 30 Americans showcases an influential group of prominent African American artists who have emerged as leading contributors to the contemporary art scene in the US and beyond. The exhibition and accompanying catalog explores the evolving roles of black subjects in art since the 1970s and highlights some of the most pressing social and political issues facing our country today, including ongoing narratives of racial inequality; the construction of racial, gender and sexual identity; and the pernicious underpinnings and effects of stereotyping. Many of the artists in this exhibition interrogate how African Americans are represented, politicized and contested in the arts, media and popular culture. Several are driven by the exclusion of black subjects in art throughout much of history and celebrate and glorify black subjects through pictorial traditions including genre painting and portraiture. In addition to essays by Robert Hobbs, Glenn Ligon, Franklin Sirmans and Michele Wallace, this expanded fourth edition contains new artworks and 22 commissioned writings by artists in the exhibition about artworks in the catalog, including pieces by Nina Chanel Abney, John Bankston, Mark Bradford, Nick Cave, Robert Colescott, Noah Davis, Leonardo Drew, Renée Green,Barkley L. Hendricks, Rashid Johnson, Kerry James Marshall, Rodney McMillian, Wangechi Mutu, William Pope.L, Rozeal Shinique Smith, Jeff Sonhouse, Henry Taylor, Hank Willis Thomas, Mickalene Thomas, Kara Walker and Kehinde Wiley.

30 Americans: Rubell Family Collection, Fourth Edition

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

This publication, the first comprehensive monograph on the paintings of Purvis Young (1943–2010), collects 254 works by the Miami-born African American artist known for his lyrical depictions of current and historical events. A self-educated artist who began drawing while incarcerated as a teenager, Young became widely known in Florida in the early 1970s with his large-scale murals consisting of paintings on scrap wood, metal and book pages, which he nailed to the walls of abandoned buildings in the Overtown neighborhood of Miami’s downtown. Surveying paintings from throughout his career, the book is thematically arranged in 14 chapters illustrating various stages of life and concerns present in Young’s work. The book also includes an interview with Young conducted by Hans Ulrich Obrist in 2005, along with essays by Rashid Johnson, Gean Moreno, Franklin Sirmans, César Trasobares and Barbara N. Young.

Purvis Young

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