AL HIRSCHFELD FOUNDATION presents "AMPLIFIED DIGNITY," online exhibition celebrating
BLACK HISTORY
T
he Al Hirschfeld Foundation celebrates Black History with its latest online exhibition, Amplified Dignity: Black Dancers Drawn by Hirschfeld. Now live at AlHirschfeldFoundation.org/exhibitions though March 13, the exhibition features Hirschfeld's reflections of legendary 20th Century artists including Sammy Davis Jr., Josephine Baker, Nicholas Brothers, Bunny Briggs, Judith Jamison, Hinton Battle, Maurice Hines, and Honi Coles.
the 2020 Apple Awards. A special episode dedicated to the works featured Amplified Dignity: Black Dancers Drawn by Hirschfeld will be available starting February 2, 2021 from AlHirschfeldFoundation.org/podcasts, iTunes and other popular podcast sites.
"To be rendered by Hirschfeld is to be immortalized in the fraternity of American popular art," says dance educator, choreographer and dramaturg Melanie George, who has curated Amplified Dignity. "These drawings encapsulate a history of individual and collective opportunity and excellence, as well as disenfranchisement and marginalization. The exhibit contains a mix of well and lesser-known artists, and nameless groups of dancers, who have contributed to the history of dance in America. The images demonstrate reverence for the people and art of New York, especially during the Harlem Renaissance era. The intent is to place these dancers at the center of the cannon, not on the margins. A rightful place, as the foundation and evolution of dance in America is intertwined and indebted to innovation and performances by Black people in America." Amplified Dignity is the latest exhibition in The Al Hirschfeld Foundation's Black Art Matters series. Having launched last summer with Lost in the Stars: Black Theater Makers Drawn By Hirschfeld, upcoming exhibits in the series will celebrate black film artists and musicians, and the 80th anniversary of the artist's iconic representations of the African-American experience in the 1930's Harlem As Seen By Hirschfeld., Go behind the lines of Hirschfeld's art with "The Hirschfeld Century Podcast," nominated as "Best NYC podcast" by
26 • HOLLYWOOD WEEKLY
24 • HOLLYWOOD WEEKLY
Self Portrait, 1985 © The Al Hirschfeld Foundation. All rights reserved. www.AlHirschfeldFoundation.org. Press contact: Keith Sherman & Associates info@ksa-pr.com 212.764.7900
