{"id":5871,"date":"2019-09-08T17:55:08","date_gmt":"2019-09-08T17:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/media-archive.blackartinamerica.com\/?p=5871"},"modified":"2019-09-08T17:56:17","modified_gmt":"2019-09-08T17:56:17","slug":"artist-mildred-thompson-headlines-fall-exhibition-at-the-spelman-college-museum-of-fine-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earthexhibitions.org\/media-archive\/?p=5871","title":{"rendered":"Artist Mildred Thompson Headlines Fall Exhibition at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

Artist Mildred Thompson Headlines Fall Exhibition at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art<\/h3>\n

The Spelman College Museum of Fine Art will launch its 2019-2020 exhibition season with the Atlanta premiere of “Mildred Thompson: The Atlanta Years, 1986 \u2013 2003” on view Wednesday, Sept. 11 through Saturday, Dec. 7.<\/p>\n

This original exhibition, curated by Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, Ph.D., C\u201993, director of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, and Melissa Messina, curator of the Mildred Thompson Estate, is the artist\u2019s first large-scale, interdisciplinary solo exhibition in the city.<\/p>\n

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Mildred Thompson<\/p><\/div>\n

American abstract artist Mildred Thompson (b. Jacksonville, FL, 1936; d. Atlanta, GA, 2003) spent much of her early career in Germany and France in response to the racial and gender discrimination she faced in the United States. In 1986 she accepted an invitation to be an artist-in-residence at Spelman College. She lived in Atlanta for the remainder of her life where her practice of abstraction flourished. This period marks a particularly prolific time in the artist\u2019s career during which she was a professor at several area colleges, associate editor of Art Papers magazine, and a practicing visual artist, writer, and musician.<\/p>\n

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This exhibition honors Thompson\u2019s life-long commitment to creating a universally resonant abstract visual language. The over 30 paintings, drawings, and prints on view demonstrate her a affinity for exploring the rhythms and patterns of science and music and interpreting the workings of the cosmos and other natural phenomena. This selection of works represents the scale, complexity, dynamism, and energy of Thompson\u2019s unique visual vocabulary, as well as her ability to translate these concepts across media.<\/p>\n

\"ScreenThroughout her artistic career, Mildred Thompson sought to find meaning in the world through abstraction. Thompson, an artist committed to affirming humankind\u2019s common bond to the systems of the universe, explored space, sound, and other elements that were not visible to the naked eye through shapes, color, lines, forms, and patterns. Figuration and representation were\u2014and arguably still are\u2014the primary modes of expression for African American artists. Thompson was often excluded from exhibitions and, as a result, did not receive critical attention during her lifetime. Thompson, along with other Black abstract practitioners of her generation, is now receiving long-overdue recognition.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThompson, an expansive thinker and a force of nature who knew no boundaries, made an indelible imprint on Atlanta,\u201d Dr. Brownlee stated. \u201cThe timely opportunity to present her work at Spelman\u2014the institution that invited her to establish a relationship with the city\u2014and examine the breadth of her work and the evolution of her career is particularly rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Messina stated, \u201cAs the accomplishments of Black female abstract artists are being revitalized today, so too is the late Mildred Thompson\u2019s work prompting renewed appreciation. We are very pleased to be working with Dr. Brownlee and Spelman College to bring Thompson\u2019s work to a broader public and to the Atlanta community.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In homage to Thompson\u2019s many influences and other creative contributions, the exhibition will also feature a selection of objects and ephemera from the artist\u2019s papers on loan from Emory University and the Estate\u2019s collection, including books, photographs, music and writings.<\/p>\n

The Museum\u2019s 2019 \u2013 2020 exhibition season is made possible by the Wish Foundation and the LUBO Fund. Additional support provided by the Massey Charitable Trust.<\/em><\/p>\n

For more information, visit museum.spelman.edu or @spelmanmuseum on Instagram and Twitter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

RELATED EVENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Opening Program
\nMildred Thompson Remembered
\nWednesday, Sept. 11
\n6:30 p.m<\/strong>.
\nJoin the Museum for a conversation with exhibition curators Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, Ph.D., director, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Melissa Messina, curator of the Mildred Thompson Estate, and Donna Jackson, Thompson\u2019s partner of 17 years and executor of the Thompson Estate. Invited comments from artists, friends, and colleagues, including Wes Cochran, Kerry Davis, and Karen Comer Lowe, will enliven the conversation. A reception follows.<\/p>\n

Register now at\u00a0http:\/\/bit.ly\/SpelMildredThompson<\/a>.
\nFor more information about the Museum see\u00a0museum.spelman.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Related Article — Mildred Thompson Opens in New York & Important Lessons from the Estates<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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