Things are slow and celebratory here in the US today as we celebrate Independence Day—for me: urban rooftop barbecue!—but to celebrate America today, I wanted to share this story about American artist Mary Jackson, whose work goes on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art this weekend. Read it here.
Much attention is being paid this Independence Day weekend to the Smithsonian’s temporary exhibit of filmmakers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas’s collection of Norman Rockwell paintings. Rockwell’s work is quintessential, iconic Americana (although, as one critic correctly pointed out, Rockwell espouses a very narrow view of the American experience). But so is Mary Jackson’s, whose art speaks of a much richer history than Rockwell’s—one that incorporates the beauty of women’s work, entrepreneurialism, Southern rural living, and the African experience in America.
Happy 4th of July to our American readers!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Joshua Staley, Pursuit of Harpyness. Pursuit of Harpyness said: Real American Art @ http://bit.ly/8XjesA [...]
I always thought that Rockwell was a big snooze, much more sentimental than challenging or interesting. It’s the way a certain generation of Americans wanted to see themselves, rather than the way we really were. Jackson’s work appears to be much more interesting and comprehensive.
[...] the original post: Real American Art – The Pursuit of Harpyness Tags: america, goes-on-display, jackson, national, national-museum, smithsonian, story, weekend [...]
[...] as I found out this past weekend when some art people took serious issue with my 4th of July post praising Mary Jackson, in which I committed the unforgivable error of suggesting that perhaps the [...]