“Presence and Persistence: Visions of American Blackness” is on display at the Frederick Layton Gallery at The Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD) until March 12, 2022. The show features four Black artists whose work celebrates the trials, triumphs, and history of Black people in the United States.
Brad Anthony Bernard is an associate professor of fine art at MIAD, who helped curate the exhibition and coordinate programming related to the show. Bernard says that "Presence and Persistence: Visions of American Blackness” was framed around the work of Chicago artist, Sandra Bridges.
According to Bernard, Sandra Bridges' work shows images that may read as late 19th century, early 20th century, the Reconstruction era and the Jim Crow era.
"[Bridges] has work that celebrates some recognizable figures in the Black American experience," Bernard says.
The work of the other three artists, David Anderson, Chrystal Denise Gillon and Jerry Jordan, all speak on their experiences as Black Americans and cohesively weave together in the group show.
Chrystal Denise Gillon is a visual artist and is one of the artists featured in the show. When thinking about her work, she says, "Inspiration comes from my life. My likes, dislikes, things that are currently affecting me in society, my history..."
When visitors visit the gallery, she wants viewers to think about their own similarities to her life. "My life is similar to other people's lives. And Black people live lives every day in similar situations. But we have an influence … an outer influence that affects how we live," Gillon says.
Bernard hopes that the show sparks introspection and continued learning outside of the gallery space."Black history is American history," Bernard emphasizes. "If [the exhibition] can be a gateway exhibition to helping people get a greater understanding of the Black experience, then we've done our job."
“Presence and Persistence: Visions of American Blackness” is on display at the Frederick Layton Gallery at MIAD, 273 East Erie Street, until March 12, 2022.
On Feb. 10, MIAD will be hosting an in-person screening of "Black Art: In the Absence of Light," a documentary introduction to the work of some of today's prominent visual artists.
