Taking Place: Selections from the Permanent Collection

For centuries artists have rendered landscapes—both real and imagined—to consider issues of history, belonging, disenfranchisement, and more. Landscapes can bear witness to stories from the past and offer powerful lessons in the present. Taking Place: Selections from the Permanent Collection includes photographs and paintings that depict urban scenes, rural landscapes, and visions of the African diaspora, all of which speak to notions of history and home among African Americans.

Richard Mayhew’s abstract paintings epitomize love and respect for the land, while works by Frank Williams and Dewey Crumpler celebrate its sheer beauty and spiritual connotations. Landscapes by Robert Duncanson and Edward Bannister assert the artists’ existence and claim ownership for future generations. The California landscape is reflected in breathtaking photographs of the town of Allensworth, and unexpected stories of Los Angeles appear in the works of Dominique Moody and Sadie Barnette.

Artists included: Sadie Barnette, April Bielefeldt, Ronda Brown, Clark Campbell, Karen Carll, Mell Carll, Jean Carter, Dewey Crumpler, Michael Cummings, François Turenne Des Pres, Robert Duncanson, David Green, Robert Mance, Richard Mayhew, Barbara Mendes, Dominique Moody, Rosalyn Myles, John Outterbridge, Howardena Pindell, Alison and Betye Saar, Christy Stallcup, Frank Williams, and Purvis Young.

This exhibition is curated by Mar Hollingsworth, Visual Arts Curator and Program Manager.

Image: Edward Mitchell Bannister, Landscape Scene, 1900, Oil on canvas, 30” x 42”, Gift of Richard F. Connally, Jr.