Inside A Site of Struggle
Lead support for the exhibition generously provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Major support provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. This project is also supported in part by:
National Endowment for the Arts Bernstein Family Contemporary Art Fund Myers Foundations Block DEAI Fund Block Board of Advisors. William Spiegel and Lisa Kadin Alumnae of Northwestern University David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg Arts Foundation Illinois Arts Council Agency Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation Lynne Jacobs The related publication is co-published by The Block Museum of Art and Princeton University Press and is supported by Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund and the Sandra L. Riggs Publication Fund.
The Block wishes to thank the exhibition artists: Laylah Ali (American, b.1968)
George Wesley Bellows (American, 1882-1925) George Biddle (American 18851973) Elizabeth Catlett (American, 19152012) Darryl Cowherd (American, b. 1940) Bob Crawford (American, 19382015)
Ernest Crichlow (American, 19142005) David Antonio Cruz (American, b. 1974) Emory Douglas (American, b. 1943) Melvin Edwards (American, b. 1937) Theaster Gates (American, b. 1973)
Ken Gonzales-Day (American, b. 1964)
Wilmer Jennings (American, 19101990) Norman Lewis, (American, 19091979)
Dox Thrash (American, 1893-1965)
Molly Jae Vaughan (British, b. 1977) Lynd Ward (American, 1905–1985)
Kerry James Marshall (American, b. 1955)
Pat Ward Williams (American, b. 1948)
Isamu Noguchi (American, 19041988)
Carrie Mae Weems (American, b. 1953)
Mendi + Keith Obadike (American, b. 1973)
Ida B. Wells (American, 1862-1931)
Howardena Pindell (American b. 1943) Carl and Karen Pope (American, b. 1961) Walter Quirt (American, 19021968)
Paul Rucker (American, b. 1968) Lorna Simpson (American, b. 1960)
Walter White (American, 18931955) Hale Woodruff (American, 19001980)
Inside A Site of Struggle
The Block wishes to thank the following private and institutional lenders: Hill Harper
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Virginia Museum of Fine Art
Rodney M. Miller
Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
The Art Institute of Chicago
The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
The Whitney Museum of American Art
Baltimore Museum of Art
The Newberry Library
Williams College Art Museum
Brooklyn Museum of Art
Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Pritzker Legal Research Center
Alexander Gray Gallery
Richard J. Daley Library, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago
Jack Shainman Gallery
Amistad Research Center, Tulane University
Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum, California State University, Long Beach Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections, Northwestern University Libraries The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum The Library of Congress
Garth Greenan Gallery Kenkeleba Gallery
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago
Luis De Jesus Gallery
Special Collections, University of Michigan Library
Stephen Friedman Gallery
Spelman College Art Museum
Monique Meloche Gallery
And those who have contributed to the exhibition publication and scholarship through formal consultation and informal conversations: Princeton University Press
Leslie M. Harris
Lorelei Stewart
Lucia | Marquand
LaCharles Ward
Fred Wilson
Michelle Komie
La Tanya Autry
Rocío Aranda Alvarado
Kenneth Guay
Bridget Cooks
Amber Esseiva
Adrian Lucia
Noémi Michel
Miranda Lash
Kestrel Rundle
Shawn Michelle Smith
Meg Onli
Leah Finger
Mlondi Zondi
Lowery Stokes Sims
Tom Eykemans
Elisabeth Callihan
Arielle Weininger
Meghann Ney
Valerie Cassel Oliver
Jake Gagne
Kristin Swan
Ross Jordan
Liz Harnett
Kylie Escudero
Kymberly Pinder
Lisa Hodermarsky
Micah Musheno
Maurita Poole
Molleen Theodore
Sampada Aranke
Risa Puleo
Katie Wu
Courtney R. Baker
Veronica Roberts
Huey Copeland
Nicole Soukup
Inside A Site of Struggle
The Block wishes to thank our colleagues at Northwestern University: President Morton O. Shapiro
Department of Art, Theory, and Practice
Ivy Wilson
Hannah Feldman
Provost Kathleen Hagerty
Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy
Sheridan Tucker Anderson
Justin Mann
Provost Chief of Staff Jake Julia
Global Marketing and Communications
E. Patrick Johnson
Susan Manning
Office of Student Engagement
Chaunesti Webb
Mary Patillo
Vice President and Associate Provost for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion Robin R. Means Coleman
Student Affairs Leadership Team
Rikki Byrd
Miriam Petty
Office of Religious and Spiritual Life
Ashley Dennis
Krista Thompson
Office of Alumni Relations and Development
Nnaemeka Ekwelum
Alvin B. Tillery, Jr.
Former Provost Jonathan Holloway
Neighborhood and Community Relations
Candice Merritt
Natasha Trethewey
Northwestern Hillel
Angela Tate
Alejandra Uslenghi
Academic Residential Initiatives
Dave Davis
Charla Wilson
Campus Inclusion and Community
Shayla Butler
Rebecca Zorach
Social Justice Education
Nathalie Bouzaglo
Robert Brown
Multicultural Student Affairs
Heather Basarab
Chelsea O’Neil Karcher
Department of Art History
Counseling and Psychological Services
Peter Brace
Melina Gooray
Department of English
The Northwestern University Libraries
César Braga-Pinto
Department of Musicology
Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion
Joshua Chambers-Letson
Office of Equity
Harris Feinsod
Black Arts Consortium Black Professionals Network Department of African American Studies
Department of Performance Studies
Wirtz Center for Performing Arts The Faculty Senate
Ryan Dohoney
Our Evanston Community Advisors, community partners in Evanston and Chicago, and colleagues at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts: Evanston Community Advisors
Partners in Evanston and Chicago
Shorefront Legacy Center
Evanston Fight for Black Lives
YWCA Evanston/Northshore Equity Institute
NAACP Evanston/North Shore Branch
Dino Robinson
City of Evanston Youth and Young Adult Services
Tiffany McDowell LeAnn Jenkins Melissa Blount Fran Joy Rebeca Mendoza Rev. Michael Nabors Nathan Norman Robin Rue Simmons Angela Williams Corey Winchester
And for the guided meditation Joshua Bee Alafia
Students Organized Against Racism at Evanston Township High School Youth and Opportunity United (Y.O.U.) The Chicago Torture Justice Memorials Love and Protect
A Long Walk Home Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Angie Dodson
Jennifer Jankauskas Sarah Kelly Cassandra Cavness Laura Bocquin
And our Communications colleagues at Northwestern University and Blue Water Communications :
Stephanie Kulke
Candice Harrison
Stephen Lewis
Amber Hendrickson
Michael Hines
Stephanie Miller Sara Stacy Lynnette Werning
Inside A Site of Struggle
The Block wishes to thank our Board of Advisors: Anu Aggarwal (SP KSM ’97)
Kristin Peterson Edwards (WCAS’92)
Craig Ponzio (Parent ’22)
Kim Allen-Niesen (Parent ’16, ’19)
Kate Ezra (TGS PhD ’83)
Irwin Press (WCAS ’59)
Mary Baglivo (MDL ’81)
James Geier
Richard M. Rieser, Jr. (SP SESP ’70)
Clare Bell (Parent ’22)
Lynn Hauser (FSM ’74 ’76 ’80) (SP FSM ’75 ’79 ’80)
Maria Bell (WCAS ’85)
Steven P. Henry (WCAS ’85)
Christine O. Robb, Chair Emerita (WCAS ’66) (SP WCAS ’66) (Parent ’93)
Daniel S. Berger
Rashid Johnson
Christine Bernstein (Parent ’17, ’23)
Cheryl Johnson-Odim, Co-chair (WCAS MA ’75 PhD ’78)
Selig D. Sacks (WCAS ’69) (Parent ’17)
Julie Bernstein (Parent ’24)
Ellen Philips Katz (WCAS ’70)
Stuart H. Bohart, Co-chair (WCAS ’89) (Parent ’25)
Zeynep Keyman (Parent ’07 ’12)
Priscilla Vail Caldwell (WCAS ’85)
James A. Klein (MDL ’68 ’69)
Stacey Cantor (WCAS ’90) (Parent ’20)
Dianne Loeb (KSM’80) (SP KSM ’81)
John Corbett (Comm PhD ’94)
Angela Lustig (SP MDL ’67 ’68)
Nicole Druckman (WCAS’92) (SP WCAS ’93)
R. Hugh Magill (SP Music ’86)
Sandra L. Riggs (Comm ’65)
Jean E. Shedd (KSM ’97) Diane Solomon (Parent ’10 ’15) Lisa Tananbaum (WCAS ’86)
Martha Tedeschi (WCAS PhD ’94) Ken Thompson (WCAS ’91) Sue Wilson (MDL ’70) (SP WCAS ’70 KSM ’74)
Our 2019-2022 Block Museum Student Associate Cohorts: Ayinoluwa Abegunde ’22
Janet Lee ’20
Mayán Alvarado-Goldberg ‘24
Kristine Liao ’20
Fiona Asokacitta ’21
Nicholas Liou ’20
Solome Bezuneh ‘24
Brooke Lummis ’20
Lois Biggs ’20
Mina Pembe Malaz ’21
Alexis Bullock ’20
Nozizwe Msipa ‘24
Carolina Carret ’23
Lennart Nielsen ’21
Vitoria Monteiro de Carvalho Faria ‘23
Giboom Joyce Park ’22
Erin Claeys ’21
Margeaux Rocco ’23
Meghan Clare Considine ’20
Ella Rubenstein ’20
Claire Corridon ’21
Bengi Rwabuhemba ‘23
Karan Gowda ’22
Joely Simon ’21
Chayda Harding ’22
Rory Kahiya Tsapayi ’21
Brianna Heath ’21
Maria Valencia ’20
Zeki Hirsch ‘24
Joyce Wang ’24
Hyohee Kim ’22
Bobby Yalam ’24
Katy Kim ‘23
Hank Yang ‘24
Isabella Ko ’20
The Block Museum Staff: Kathleen Bickford Berzock Lois Taylor Biggs
æryka hollis o’neil, Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellow, 2021–22
Lindsay Bosch
Elisa Miller Quinlan ’98
Kristina Bottomley
Emmanuel Ramos-Barajas
Lisa G. Corrin
Jenna Robertson
Sarah Dwider, Art History Graduate Fellow, 2021–22
Essi Rönkkö
Madie Giaconia ‘24
Joseph Scott
Corinne Granof
Rita Shorts
Malia Haines-Stewart
Dan Silverstein
Bethany Hill, Art History Graduate Fellow, 2020–21
Jeff Smith
América Salomón
Danielle Llevada ’23
Alisa Swindell, A Site of Struggle Curatorial Research Associate. Associate Curator of Photography at Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College (former staff)
Rebecca Lyon
Melanie Garcia Sympson
Michael Metzger
Kate Hadley Toftness
Mark Leonhart
Amelia Mylvaganam ’23 Erin Northington
With special thanks to our Visitor Services, Exhibition Installation, and Registrarial teams:
Jack Benson Rocio Castillo Aaron Chatman Claire Dornbierer Adele Marchiando Warren G. Smith Jim Stauber Vincent Taylor Kenneth Watson
Lori Boyer Matt Byler Marian Frost Jane Jeffries Carl Kaufmann Steve Lalik Cass Meek Izah Ransohoff John Santoro Kelly Stachura
Inside A Site of Struggle
The curator also wishes to acknowledge the support of: Elise Archias
Jill Brienza
Nicole Awai
Lisa M. Gill
Naomi Beckwith
Dolores Dees
Erin Gilbert
Jason Dees
Nikki A. Greene Kristen Hughes
Carolyn Kastner
And the memories of:
Courtney J. Martin
Rev. Lloyd E. Dees
Lee Ann Norman
Daisy Mills
Geof Oppenheimer
Ryan Rice Cassandra Smith J. Michael Terry Yesomi Umolu
L. A. Williams Pamela Ayo Yetunde
January 26 – July 10, 2022
A Site of Struggle American Art against Anti-Black Violence Curated by Janet Dees, Steven and Lisa Munster Tananbaum Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art with the assistance of Alisa Swindell, Curatorial Research Associate, Associate Curator of Photography, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College
Melvin Edwards Ida B.W., 1990, from the series Lynch Fragments (1963ongoing), welded steel, 13 x 13.8 x 9.8 inches
A Site of Struggle is grounded in crucial questions:
How has art has been used to protest, process, mourn, and memorialize anti-Black violence within the United States? How can art history help inform our understanding of the deep roots of racial violence?
Molly Jae Vaughan (British, born 1977) Lateisha “Teish” Green, 400 Block of Seymour Street, Syracuse, from Project 42, 2021; Inkjet and silkscreen printed fabric Created with the assistance of Anh Nguyen and Martina Duque.
The exhibition is made up of three sections organized thematically around different artistic approaches:
Works in Written on the Body explore how artists create subtler allusions to anti-Black violence, including the psychological impacts of racism.
Darryl Cowherd. Stop White Police from Killing Us-St. Louis, MO, c. 1966-67. Gelatin Silver Print. Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago
Dox Thrash (American, 1893-1965) After the Lynching, late 1930s Carborundum mezzotint printed in black ink on wove paper 6 1/16 × 8 7/8 inches, (plate); 8 1/16 × 11 13/16 inches (sheet) Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Kathleen Boone Samuels Memorial Fund, 2017.27
Emory Douglas (American, b. 1943) May 26, 1973, 1973 Ink wash and graphite pencil 20 x 14 inches Richard J. Daley Library, Special Collections & Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago
…this is the expression internal inertia that is sight and sound of which is rarely understood Is often not acknowledged Is mostly intellectualized by those drawn to veer in my direction black
Carl and Karen Pope (American, b. 1961) Palimpsest, 1998-99 Single-video, color with sound Courtesy of Carl and Karen Pope
striation and vocalization of a body of a self of a consciousness that dares to reverberate aloud without consent of those without participation of those fearful…but leering fearful…and defensive fearful…thus projecting flat imagery and ideology onto movement of my being…
Carl Pope Some of the Greatest Hits of the New York City Police Department: A Celebration of Meritorious Achievement in Community Service, 1994. engraved trophies. Dimensions variable Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Carl and Karen Pope, Christopher and Ann Stack, and A. W. Stuart. Installation view: An Incomplete History of Protest: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1940–2017, 2017
The exhibition is made up of three sections organized thematically around different artistic approaches:
Artists in the section Abstraction and Affect employ conceptual strategies and varying degrees of abstraction to avoid literal representations of violence. ◦
Paul Rucker September 15, 1963-Birmingham, Alabama. From the Soundless Series, 2015. Courtesy of the artist.
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Paul Rucker, June 7, 1998-Jasper, Texas September 15, 1963-Birmingham, Alabama. From the Soundless Series, 2015. Courtesy of the artist.
Melvin Edwards Some Bright Morning, 1963, from the series Lynch Fragments (1963- ongoing), welded steel, 14 1/2 x 9 1/4 x 5 inches
Ida W.B., 1990, from the series Lynch Fragments (1963- ongoing), welded steel, 13 x 13.8 x 9.8 inches
Theaster Gates (American, b. 1973) In Case of Race Riot II, 2011 Wood, metal, hoses 35 x 32 x 6 inches Brooklyn Museum of Art
Minority Majority, 2012. Decommissioned firehoses, and vinyl on plywood. Whitney Museum of Art
The exhibition is made up of three sections organized thematically around different artistic approaches:
A Red Record explores how graphic depictions were repurposed to protest violence, such as lynchings.
Ida B. Wells (1862-1931), A Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States , 1895
An Art Commentary on Lynching. Exhibition Catalogue, February 15 –March 2, 1935 Arthur U. Newton Galleries (New York, N.Y.) The Newberry Library
Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988), Death (alternative title, Lynched Figure), 1934 Wood, metal, rope, armature. 39 x 29 1/4 x 21 inches The Isamu Noguchi Foundation
Hale Woodruff (American, 1900-1980) By Parties Unknown, 1935 Linocut. 12 x 9 inches Collection of Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia, Gift of Kathryn C. and Kenneth I. Chenault, 2001.1.006
Norman Lewis, (American, 1909-1979) Untitled (Police Beating),1943 Watercolor, ink, and graphite on paper 20 x 13 7/8 inches Courtesy of Rodney M. Miller Collection
Installation View- The Decade Show: Frameworks of Identity in the 1980s, 1990. The New Museum
Pat Ward Williams (American, b. 1948) Accused/Blowtorch/Padlock, 1986 Collaged tar paper, oil pastel, found painted wood, found magazine, three gelatin silver prints with printed text on mylar overlay, and nails and staples, mounted on word panel 61 13/16 × 108 1/4 × 3 inches Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Details Pat Ward Williams, Accused / Blowtorched/ Padlocked, Photo-collage, 1985
Kerry James Marshall, Heirlooms and Accessories, 2002. Three Ink-jet prints on paper in wooden artist's frame with rhinestones; Each: 51 x 46 inches; Framed: 57 x 53 x 3 inches Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago
Reginald Marsh, This is Her First Lynching, 1934. Drawing in black ink and Conté Crayon. Collection New York Public Library. Originally published in the New Yorker, September 8, 1934, reproduced in The Crisis in January 1935
Flyer for an anti-lynching mass meeting organized by the Philadelphia Committee for Race Relations of the Society of Friends. 1935. NAACP Archives, Library of Congress
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Orientation text – respectful viewership and respect for other visitors
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Moderate number of works.
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Dedicated spaces for visual rest.
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Controlled sightlines to the most graphic materials.
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Dedicated space for quiet reflection.
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Dedicated place for visitors to sit and write comments to encourage ongoing feedback.
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Access to resources regarding campus and community services and social justice organizations
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Care guide including guided meditation and collection connections
The themes, content, and format of the exhibition, as well as exhibition programming, resources, and structures of support were developed through formal consultation and informal conversations with an interdisciplinary group of established and emerging scholars and museum professionals, artists, Northwestern faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students, and Evanston communities members active in the fields of American history, art history, visual culture, and African Americans’ production and representation within these fields, and organizing around issues of racial justices.