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African American Art Gallery

Highlights

A Small Band

Glenn Ligon, American, born 1960 (Artist)

A Small Band

Tired (Primary Title)

Samella Sanders Lewis, American, 1924–2022 (Artist)

Tired (Primary Title)

Untitled (Primary Title)

Howardena Pindell, American, born 1943 (Artist)

Untitled (Primary Title)

"Stacked Bricks" in columns with borders...

Nell Hall Williams, American, born 1933 (Artist)

"Stacked Bricks" in columns with borders on two sides (Primary Title)

Willem van Heythuysen (Primary Title)

Kehinde Wiley, American, born 1977 (Artist)

Willem van Heythuysen (Primary Title)

Three Folk Musicians (Primary Title)

Romare Bearden, American, 1911 - 1988 (Artist)

Three Folk Musicians (Primary Title)

Glass Lantern Slide Pavilion (Primary Ti...

Theaster Gates, American, born 1973 (Artist)

Glass Lantern Slide Pavilion (Primary Title)

Marian Anderson (Primary Title)

Beauford Delaney, American, 1901 - 1979 (Artist)

Marian Anderson (Primary Title)

Vessel (Primary Title)

Radcliffe Bailey, American, 1968–2023 (Artist)

Vessel (Primary Title)

Catfish Row (Primary Title)

Jacob Lawrence, American, 1917 - 2000 (Artist)

Catfish Row (Primary Title)

Christ and His Disciples on the Sea of G...

Henry Ossawa Tanner, American, 1859 - 1937 (Artist)

Christ and His Disciples on the Sea of Galilee (Primary Title)

Town of Hope (Primary Title)

Archibald John Motley Jr., American, 1891 - 1981 (Artist)

Town of Hope (Primary Title)

Doubled-handled Jug (Primary Title)

David Drake, American, ca. 1800 - ca. 1870 (Artist)

Doubled-handled Jug (Primary Title)

Portrait of Mrs. West and her Daughter, ...

Joshua Johnson, American, ca. 1763 - ca. 1824 (Artist)

Portrait of Mrs. West and her Daughter, Mary Ann West

Roseate Mist (Primary Title)

Norman Lewis, American, 1909 - 1979 (Artist)

Roseate Mist (Primary Title)

Recently Acquired

Untitled (Primary Title)

Al Loving, American, 1935–2005 (Artist)

Untitled (Primary Title)

Untitled (Langston Hughes and André Bre...

Ted Joans, American, 1928 - 2003 (Artist)

Untitled (Langston Hughes and André Breton) (Primary Title)

Roseate Mist (Primary Title)

Norman Lewis, American, 1909 - 1979 (Artist)

Roseate Mist (Primary Title)

From Asterisks in Dockery (Primary Title...

Rodney McMillian, American, born 1969 (Artist)

From Asterisks in Dockery (Primary Title)

Child Reading (Primary Title)

James A. Porter, American, 1905 - 1970 (Artist)

Child Reading (Primary Title)

The Seasons - Summer (Primary Title)

Michi Meko, American, born 1974 (Artist)

The Seasons - Summer (Primary Title)

Forsythia and Pussy Willows Begin Spring...

Alma Thomas, American, 1891 - 1978 (Artist)

Forsythia and Pussy Willows Begin Spring (Primary Title)

Gamin (Primary Title)

Augusta Savage, American, 1892 or 1900 - 1962 (Artist)

Gamin (Primary Title)

Swing Low (Primary Title)

Senga Nengudi, American, born 1943 (Artist)

Swing Low (Primary Title)

Blues Singer #1 (Primary Title)

Charles Henry Alston, American, 1907–1977 (Artist)

Blues Singer #1 (Primary Title)

PROCESSION

In 2019, VMFA commissioned Odili Donald Odita to create a work inspired by the collection. Odita is best known for his colorful acrylic abstract painting of slightly irregular and off-kilter geometric forms. Odita’s dual identity, being born in Nigeria and raised in the American Midwest, is reflected in his works. His paintings are rooted in the modernist tradition of geometric abstraction and point out the double inheritance of western and African abstraction.Procession is the visual response to the museum’s extraordinary holdings that includes the work of artists of the African American South, contemporary masters, and midcentury avant garde painters. Proceeding in the same vein as Sol LeWitt, whoseWall Drawing #541graces the museum’s 20th-century gallery entrance from the Marble Hall, Odita executed a work that also responds to the specificity of space, creating a dynamic play upon the Atrium’s architecture. 

Watch the installation of Odita’s work in this video. 

Jennie C. Jones: High as the Listening Skies and The Edges of Heaven, Rest

“My work is in conversation with history.” —Jennie C. Jones 

This immersive installation at VMFA features two sound works. The first composition,High as the Listening Skies, features three gospel choirs from Houston, Los Angeles, and Baltimore, performing the song “A City Called Heaven.” The song was popularized by gospel icon and civil rights activist Mahalia Jackson. The second featured work,The Edges of Heaven, Rest, is primarily tonal and associated with the concept of music as having healing energy. Jones layers audio samples—effectively collaging composition from Black composer Alvin Singleton. 

The two works, which can be experienced together in the chapel located in the museum’s Sculpture Garden, create a striking balance between the crescendo of a spiritual ecstatic and a meditative calm. Interwoven, they emit a sonic framing that bridges the physical world to the ethereal realm, offering the transcendent and transformational possibilities of sound.