by Cincinnati Art Museum
2/23/2021
In 2016, special exhibition 30 Americans brought the work of 30 preeminent Black artists to the Cincinnati Art Museum. This exhibition focused on issues of racial, gender, and historical identity in contemporary culture while exploring the powerful influence of artistic legacy and community across generations.
As we continue to honor Black History Month through art, we revisit this landmark exhibition, and invite you to take a look at the work of some of the artists who were both part of this show, and are also represented in the museum’s permanent collection.
The exhibition catalogue, which is also a record of the Rubell Family Collection - the primary source of pieces in this exhibition - is still available here.
Installation views, 30 Americans at the Cincinnati Art Museum, 2016:
The exhibition featured the work of Hank Willis Thomas (Branded Head, below far right). In 2020 CAM hosted Thomas’s solo exhibition All Things Being Equal..., the first major retrospective of the artist’s work. Watch an artist narrated walkthrough of that exhibition, or view community reactions to it in The Workshop.
Installation views, 30 Americans at the Cincinnati Art Museum, 2016:
The exhibition featured work by artists Kara Walker (below left) and Carrie Mae Weems (below right). Works from both artists are represented in the #CAMcollection, and were also featured in the 2019–20 exhibition Women Breaking Boundaries:
Kara Elizabeth Walker (American, b.1969), printmaker, Exodus of Confederates from Atlanta, 2005, photo offset lithograph and screen print, The Albert P. Strietmann Collection and The Edwin and Virginia Irwin Memorial, 2009.79.15:
Carrie Mae Weems (American, b.1953), photographer, Untitled (Women with Friends), 1990, 3 gelatin silver prints, Museum Purchase: Gift of RSM Co., by exchange, 1995.2a-c:
Lorna Simpson’s Wigs (Portfolio) can be seen at right below. This piece, a collections of lithographs on felt, is part of the permanent collection and was also featured in Women Breaking Boundaries:
Lorna Simpson (American, b.1960), printmaker, Wigs (Portfolio), lithographs on felt, 1994, Timothy Rub Art Purchase Fund, 2007.67.1-39:
A Soundsuit by artist Nick Cave below. This mixed media sculpture is part of the permanent collection – listen to a CAM Look about the Soundsuit here.
The Cincinnati Art Museum is supported by the generosity of tens of thousands of contributors to the ArtsWave Community Campaign, the region's primary source for arts funding.
Free general admission to the Cincinnati Art Museum is made possible by a gift from the Rosenthal Family Foundation. Exhibition pricing may vary. Parking at the Cincinnati Art Museum is free.
Generous support for our extended Thursday hours is provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.
General operating support provided by: