{"id":2507,"date":"2018-06-01T02:00:38","date_gmt":"2018-06-01T02:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/media-archive.blackartinamerica.com\/?p=2507"},"modified":"2018-06-01T17:44:58","modified_gmt":"2018-06-01T17:44:58","slug":"charles-white-a-retrospective-the-art-institute-chicago-summer-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earthexhibitions.org\/media-archive\/?p=2507","title":{"rendered":"Charles White’s: Retrospective, Opens Next Week at the Art Institute of Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charles White: A Retrospective<\/h1>\n

Opens Next Week at the Art Institute of Chicago<\/h2>\n
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June 8, 2018\u2013September 3, 2018 \u2022\u00a0<\/span>Galleries 182\u201384<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Charles White. Harvest Talk, 1953. Restricted gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Hartman. \u00a9 The Charles White Archives Inc.<\/p><\/div>\n

NEXT WEEK, THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED Charles White<\/strong> (1918\u20131979) : A Retrospective, opens at the Art Institute of Chicago, June 8. White powerfully interpreted African American history, culture, and lives over the course of his four-decade career.\u00a0 A superbly gifted draftsman and printmaker as well as a talented mural and easel painter, he developed a distinctive and labor-intensive approach to art making and remained committed to a representational style at a time when the art world increasingly favored abstraction. His work magnified the power of the black figure through scale and form, communicating universal human themes while also focusing attention on the lives of African Americans and the struggle for equality. This exhibition\u2014the first major retrospective of White\u2019s work in more than 35 years\u2014showcases an accomplished artist whose work continues to resonate amid today\u2019s national dialogues about race, work, equality and history.<\/p>\n

Charles White. Our Land, 1951. Private collection. \u00a9 The Charles White Archives Inc.<\/span>\"\"<\/a><\/div><\/figure>
Charles White, printed by Robert Blackburn. Gideon, 1951. Margaret Fisher Fund. \u00a9 The Charles White Archives Inc.<\/span>\"\"<\/a><\/div><\/figure>
Charles White. The Trenton Six, 1949. Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX. \u00a9 The Charles White Archives Inc.<\/span>\"\"<\/a><\/div><\/figure>
Charles White, printed and published by Edward Hamilton. Love Letter III, 1977. Margaret Fisher Fund. \u00a9 The Charles White Archives Inc.<\/span>\"\"<\/a><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Born in Chicago and educated at the School of the Art Institute, White was part of the city\u2019s flourishing black artistic community of the 1930s. He was determined to employ art in the struggle for social change, declaring, \u201cPaint is the only weapon I have with which to fight what I resent.\u201d Influenced by Mexican muralists such as Diego Rivera, White completed several important mural commissions in the city, including one for a branch of the Chicago Public Library.<\/p>\n