Alfred Conteh in Portraits of Who We Are: The David C. Driskell Center, College Park, MD

The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora at the University of Maryland is proud to announce its spring exhibition, Portraits of Who We Are. The exhibition focuses on self-portraits by African American artists   and also includes portraits of African American artists created by their colleagues. The exhibition will be on display at the Driskell Center from Thursday, February 1st, 2018 through Friday, May 18th, 2018, with an opening reception on Thursday, February 1st, from 5-7PM. 

There have been relatively few exhibitions featuring self-portraits by African American artists; Portraits of Who We Are has been developed to address the ways in which African American artists portray themselves, their communities, and their culture at large.  Self-portraits have become a fashionable staple of artistic practice and have a particular command on our attention as issues such as identity, modernity, and gender are considered within their cultural and historical contexts.

The exhibition includes more than 50 works that span from 1915 to 2017 and is curated by Professor Curlee R. Holton, assisted by Dorit Yaron, the Center’s Deputy Director, with some advising by Dr. Michael D. Harris, Associate Professor of Art History in the Department of African American Studies at Emory University, GA.

“Portraiture has had a long and distinguished role in the canon of art worldwide. Self-portraiture in particular offers the audience unique visual masterpieces and, just as importantly, serves as a document of the artist’s creative prowess,” says Professor Curlee R. Holton, the Driskell Center’s Executive Director. He continues, “The artist’s self-portrait is much more than a painting: it is a symbol of the personal which can also possess artistic, historical, cultural, and political significance.”