Brooklyn on My Mind: Black Visual Artists from the WPA to the Present

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This new resource assembles 129 Black artists and their magnificent works, highlighting their important contributions to art worldwide. Beginning with the Brooklyn-based artists active during the Works Progress Administration years and continuing with artists approaching their prime today, the collection spans 80 years of art. From highly publicized artists to rising talent, each is tied to Brooklyn in their own way. Artists include Jacob Lawrence, Otto Neals, Onnie Millar, Kehinde Wiley, Dindga McCannon, Melvin Edwards, Dread Scott, Xenobia Bailey, Vivian Schuyler Key, Kay Brown, Russell Frederick, and many more. Seven chapters highlight overarching themes that connect the artists, besides their Brooklyn connections. A foreword by New York City’s “first lady,” Chirlane McCray, marks the importance of Brooklyn’s Black creators within the city’s art community.

From the Publisher

From the Middle Passage, unpaged, pen and ink, tempera on rice paper, 1990–1994. Courtesy of the Tom Feelings Collection, LLC.

‘When I am asked what kind of work I do, my answer is that I am a storyteller, in picture form, who tries to reflect and interpret the lives and experiences of the people that gave me life’. – Tom Feelings

Boy in Cap and Sweater, acrylic on canvas, 2015.

Chandler’s work has been featured and celebrated throughout New York City and the East Coast. Notably, Chandler received recognition at the Schomburg Center’s Special Collection Series, ‘100 Black Artists of the 20th Century’. One of her paintings remains on permanent display at the Schomburg.

Mother and Child, oil on canvas, 1968. Courtesy of Weeksville Heritage Center, Brooklyn, New York.

Over the years, Maynard held a number of distinguished positions, including trustee of the City University of New York, founding member of the African American Museums Association, and a member of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the African Burial Ground in New York. In 2017, the City of New York renamed Buffalo Avenue to Dr. Joan Maynard Way.

Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 1975. Courtesy of the Otto Neals Collection.

Abdul Rahman was a dedicated member of the Weusi Artist Collective, an organization of African American artists established in 1965 in New York City. He was most noted for his ability to vividly portray the plight of the Black experience in North America, which he called ‘Epic Symbolism’.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Schiffer; 1st edition (December 15, 2018)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0764356526
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0764356520
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.2 x 1.4 x 12 inches