There is little doubt that progress has been made in the recognition of Black women artists by art institutions in the last forty years. Nonetheless, it remains a sad reality even today that many of America’s most remarkable artists have been systematically overlooked by both art historians and exhibition venues.
That exposure gap is taken very seriously by the Academy Art Museum. It is a primary reason that artist Norma Morgan is not only the subject of the first exhibition of her at the AAM this year but the museum has doubled-town on that commitment with the inclusion of a printed catalog of her work.
But the other primary reason the AAM was eager to display Morgan’s work was because of how remarkable it is. From documenting her early days as a printmaker at the famed Atelier 17 school in New York to her watercolors of the Moors while living in England, and later to her moving portraits of such heros as Harriet Tubman, “Norma Morgan: Enchanted World” shows a artist with a unique capacity to grow.
The Spy asked AAM’s curator Mehves Lelic to give us a short introduction to Norma’s work to understand the magnitude of her contributions to art during her lifetime.
This video is approximately three minutes in length. For more information on this exhibition please go here.
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