Buffalo, NY – On Saturday, February 17, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery will open a new exhibition, We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85. The exhibition shines a spotlight on the work of black women artists, and examines the political, social, cultural, and aesthetic priorities of women of color from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. The exhibition is organized by the Brooklyn Museum. At the Albright-Knox it is organized by Curatorial Fellow Andrea Alvarez and Curatorial Assistant Jasmine Magaña. 

The works in this exhibition have been created by artists and activists who lived and worked at the intersections of avant-garde art worlds and radical political movements during a period marked by the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, the Women’s Movement, the Anti-War Movement, and the Gay Liberation Movement, among others. It is the first exhibition to highlight the voices and experiences of women of color during this period—distinct from the primarily white, middle-class mainstream feminist movement. The exhibition invites conversations around race, feminism, political action, art production, and art history. It features a wide range of work in different mediums, including performance documentation and video art, as well as photography, painting, sculpture, and printmaking.

“This fundamentally important exhibition amplifies the voices of women artists who were making vital works of art during a critical and tumultuous period in American history, but whose electrifying accomplishments have often been overlooked,” said Albright-Knox Chief Curator Cathleen Chaffee. “We are thrilled to bring this groundbreaking exhibition to Buffalo and Western New York as part of its nation-wide tour, and hope visitors will participate in the dialogue that this show so fruitfully sparks.”

We Wanted a Revolution comprises more than 210 works by Emma Amos (born 1938), Camille Billops (born 1939), Kay Brown (1932–2012), Linda Goode Bryant (born 1949), Beverly Buchanan (1940–2015), Carole Byard (1941–2017), Elizabeth Catlett (1915–2012), Ayoka Chenzira (born 1953), Christine Choy (born 1952) Susan Robeson, Blondell Cummings (1944–2015), Julie Dash (born 1952), Pat Davis, Jeff Donaldson (1932–2004), Maren Hassinger (born 1947), Janet Henry (born 1947), Virginia Jaramillo (born 1939), Jae Jarrell (born 1935), Wadsworth Jarrell (born 1929), Lisa Jones (born 1961), Loïs Mailou Jones (1905–1998), Barbara Jones-Hogu (1938–2017), Carolyn Lawrence (born 1940), Samella Lewis (born 1924), Dindga McCannon (born 1947), Barbara McCullough (born 1945), Ana Mendieta (1948–1985), Senga Nengudi (born 1943), Lorraine O’Grady (born 1934), Howardena Pindell (born 1943), Faith Ringgold (born 1930), Alva Rogers (born 1959), Alison Saar (born 1956), Betye Saar (born 1926), Coreen Simpson (born 1942), Lorna Simpson (born 1960), Ming Smith, and Carrie Mae Weems (born 1953).

The exhibition is organized in a general chronology around a key group of movements, collectives, actions, and communities, and builds a narrative based on these significant catalysts including Spiral and the Black Arts Movement; the “Where We At” Black Women Artists collective; Art World activism, including the Art Workers’ Coalition (AWC); the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition (BECC); Women, Students and Artists for Black Art Liberation (WSABAL); and the Judson Three; Just Above Midtown Gallery; the Combahee River Collective and Black feminism; Heresies magazine; the A.I.R. Gallery exhibition Dialectics of Isolation: An Exhibition of Third World Women Artists of the United States; and the Rodeo Caldonia High-Fidelity Performance Theater collective.

Two related volumes were published by the Brooklyn Museum and will be available in Shop AK: a sourcebook of writings from the period and a book of new essays by art historians Huey Copeland, Aruna D’Souza, Kellie Jones, and Uri McMillan.

Events and Programs

Free Public Opening and Voices in Contemporary Art Talk

A Members’ Opening will take place Friday, February 16, from 5 to 7 pm, with a free public opening to follow from 7 to 9 pm. A Voices in Contemporary Art artist talk with Dindga McCannon will take place at 7:15 pm in the Auditorium. The museum is honored to welcome Catherine Morris, Sackler Family Senior Curator for the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Brooklyn Museum, to give introductory remarks, and Rujeko Hockley, Assistant Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, in conversation with McCannon.

Dear Nina: A Sonic Love Letter to Nina Simone with Drea d’Nur and Strings by Rootstock Republic

Power, poise, and passion reign supreme in this pairing of voice and strings that celebrates the legendary—and at times uncharted—canon of Nina Simone. Drea d'Nur (vocalist/pianist) accompanied by a six-piece string ensemble, courtesy of Rootstock Republic: LIVE, share center stage in this uniquely intimate and newly orchestrated songbook of Nina's love songs, blues, and protest music. The performance will take place Thursday, March 8, at 7 pm, in the museum’s Auditorium. Tickets are $50 general admission and $45 for Members.

Radical Women’s Night Out

On March 15 and April 19, from 6 to 8 pm, the museum will host Radical Women’s Night Out events, offering two evenings to celebrate the beautiful works in this exhibition and explore its timely themes more deeply. Thanks to the efforts of a generous group of local women, admission to the exhibition and to the evening’s program will be free for all attendees for these events. Space is limited, please pre-register; RSVP online at www.albrightknox.org/nightout, call 716.270.8292, or visit the Albright-Knox Admissions Desk.

On select Sundays throughout the run of the exhibition, the museum will present Sunday Insights, a series of gallery talks on different aspects of the exhibition with leading women artists, educators, activists, and storytellers, including Julia Bottoms (February 18), Valeria Cray-Dihaan (February 25), Karima Amin (March 4), Gail Wells (March 18 and May 20), Leah Hamilton (March 25), Sharon Holley (April 15), Mama Charlene Caver Miller (April 22), Alexa Wajed (April 29), Eva Doyle (May 6), and Franchelle Parker (May 27). All talks begin at 2 pm in the exhibition galleries, and are free with museum admission.

Educators’ Workshop and Classes

On Thursday, March 1, from 4:30 to 6:30 pm, the museum will host an Educators’ Workshop that will include an evening of discussion, curriculum connections, and artmaking. To begin the workshop, visitors will have the chance to hear from Curatorial Assistant Jasmine Magaña and Curatorial Fellow Andrea Alvarez about this special exhibition. The tour will continue with School and Docent Programs Coordinator Lindsay Kranz reviewing connections to classroom learning. The workshop will conclude with hands-on art activities to support lesson-plan development inspired by various works in the exhibition.

On Saturdays, March 10, 17, and 24, the museum will host an educational class, Radical Clothing, for children ages 12 to 14. Kids are welcome to dig through piles of materials and construct a wearable sculpture in this class inspired by the work of Jae Jarrell. Create colorful and expressive designs using mixed media, hand sewing, and printing on fabric.

Space is limited for all programs; registration and pre-payment are required. Please register online, call 716.270.8292, or sign up at the Albright-Knox Admissions Desk.

ArtCart

On Sunday, April 8, as part of $5 Family Funday, presented by Wegmans, the museum will have its free mobile ArtCart with interactive art activities for kids and families in the exhibition. The ArtCart is presented by BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York. On the second Sunday of each month, museum admission for the entire family costs just $5, and includes an array of programming for children and their families.

We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85 is organized by the Brooklyn Museum. 

The exhibition has been made possible at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The Albright-Knox Art Gallery’s exhibition program is generously supported by The Seymour H. Knox Foundation, Inc.

Publication of the family guide has been made possible through the generosity of The MAK Fund. Additional support for educational components of this exhibition has been provided by a grant from the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. 

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