Art and Race Matters

"Robert Colescott (1925-2009) was a trailblazing artist, whose august career was as unique as his singular artistic style. Known for figurative satirical paintings that exposed the ugly ironies of race in America from the 1970s through thate 1990s, his work was profoundly influential to the generations of artists that have followed him, such as Kara Walker, Kehinde Wiley, and Henry Taylor, among many others. This volume--accompanying the largest retrospective of the artist's work ever mounted--surveys the entirety of Colescott's body of work, including early works which have rarely been seen. The book includes substantive essays by two of the curators of the exhibition, Lowery Stokes Sims and Matthew Weseley, as well as reminiscences and thought pieces by a variety of family, friends, collaborators, students, curators, dealers, and scholars on his work and a selection of writings by the artist himself. This collection of diverse essays, interviews, and personal remembrances presents perspectives and insights which allow for a richer understanding of the artist's work. Importantly, this catalogue provides detailed stylistic analyses of Colescott's politically inflected oeuvre, focus