Episode No. 725 of The Modern Art Notes Podcast features curators Philip Brookman and Deborah Willis (and a cameo, of sorts, from artist Anthony Barboza).
Brookman and Willis are the co-curators of “Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955-85” at the National Gallery of Art, Washington. The exhibition considers photography’s engagement with the post-war cultural and aesthetic movement that celebrated Black history, identity, and beauty, and which often influenced the broader civil rights movement of which it was a part. The exhibition features 150 works from photographers and other artists who used photography in their work, such as in collage or assemblage. It is on view through January 11, 2026. An excellent catalogue was published by the NGA In association with Yale University Press. Amazon and Bookshop offer it for about $60.
Instagram: Philip Brookman, Anthony Barboza, Deborah Willis, Tyler Green.
Air date: September 25, 2025.
Anthony Barboza, Pensacola, Florida, 1966.
Anthony Barboza, Liberty – Pensacola, Florida, 1966.
Coreen Simpson, Self-Portrait, 1978.
LaToya Ruby Frazier, Momme, 2018.
LaToya Ruby Frazier, Momme, 2008.
James E. Hinton, Two Women Sitting on a New York City Subway, 1966.
Charles “Teenie” Harris, James Baldwin being interviewed on television…, 1963/2025.
Romare Bearden, 110th Street Harlem Blues, 1972.
Ralph Arnold, Above this Earth, Games, Games, 1968.
Ralph Arnold, Soul Box, 1969.
Barbara DuMetz, Kraft Foods advertisement, 1977.
Bob Fletcher, Placards of Goodman, Chaney and Schwerner…, 1964.
Horace Ové, Walking Proud, Notting Hill Carnival, ca. 1972/2023.
Louis Draper, Fannie Lou Hamer, Mississippi, July 1971.
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