“Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power 1963-1983” at the Broad

Artwork by Barbara Jones-Hogu.

The Broad is offering select free access opportunities for Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power 1963-1983.

The internationally acclaimed exhibition runs through Sept. 1, 2019 and celebrates the work of Black artists made over two decades, beginning in 1963 at the height of the civil rights movement. The Broad, which attracted a record 815,000 visitors in 2018 (the museum’s highest annual attendance in its three-year history), is debuting the exhibition on the West Coast.

Also this week, on Wednesday July 17, 2019, the first of two Black Fire Sessions kicks off at The Broad.
Tickets are available here.

The first of the two Black Fire Sessions begins with a performance by Roscoe Mitchell (co-founder of The Art Ensemble of Chicago and AfriCOBRA collaborator) along with Brett Carson (world-renowned pianist) to celebrate the landmark exhibition Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power 1963-1983.

Joining them throughout the evening are three other Los Angeles-based musicians who experiment with the language of jazz. 

Busdriver, who ingeniously moves between funk, rap, and scat will perform in Oculus Hall and Georgia Anne Muldrow will present a labyrinth of vocals, keyboards, and other instruments, her partner, Declaime. In the lobby, Teebs will layer and manipulate recordings into his signature”beat music.” Mecca Vazie Andrews will animate the galleries of Soul of a Nation through three distinct movement and dance pieces. 

Black Fire Sessions SET TIMES + LOCATIONS:

Cash Bar / Museum Doors Open 8 P.M.

Lobby / 1st Floor
8:30-9:20                 Teebs
9:40-10:30               Roscoe Mitchell + Brett Carson

Soul of a Nation Galleries
8-11                          Interventions: Mecca Vazie Andrews

East West Bank Stage in Oculus Hall, 2nd Floor
8:45-9:35                 Georgia Anne Muldrow
9:55-10:45               Busdriver

Timed tickets for the entire exhibition are now available at www.thebroad.org.

Tickets are $18 for adults, $12 for students (with valid student ID), free for children 17 and under, and will include same-day general admission to The Broad’s third floor galleries, which feature a frequently changing selection of works from the Broad collection, one of the world’s leading collections of postwar and contemporary art.

Tickets can be purchased in advance on The Broad’s website, and same-day standby tickets are also available for purchase onsite each day the museum is open.

The Broad is offering free admission to Soul of a Nation every Thursday from 5-8 p.m. (last entry at 7 p.m.) during the exhibition’s run, with additional free access days during the summer to be announced.

The Broad will offer a series of 11 free gallery talks on Thursdays at 7 p.m., running through the end of July. 

Tickets for the program are available here: www.thebroad.org/programs.

Additional public programs associated with Soul of a Nation will be announced at a later date.

SOUL OF A NATION EXHIBITION DETAILS:

Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power 1963-1983
March 23–Sept. 1, 2019
Tickets: $18 adult, $12 student (with valid ID), free for children 17 and under
Location: The Broad, 221 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, 90012

Soul of a Nation examines the influences, from the civil rights and Black Power movements to Minimalism and developments in abstraction, on artists such as Romare Bearden, Barkley Hendricks, Noah Purifoy, Martin Puryear, Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, Alma Thomas, Charles White and William T. Williams.

Los Angeles-based artists appear throughout Soul of a Nation, and more deeply in three specific galleries, foregrounding the significant role of Los Angeles in the art and history of the civil rights movement and the subsequent activist era, and the critical influence and sustained originality of the city’s artists, many of whom have lacked wider recognition.

The work of pioneering Los Angeles artist Betye Saar is explored in a gallery that recreates a portion of the artist’s first survey exhibition in 1973 at California State University, Los Angeles. Another gallery examines the unique approaches to the graphic image by Charles White, David Hammons and Timothy Washington, focusing on the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s 1971 exhibition Three Graphic Artists that featured these artists, and which came out of the activist efforts of the Black Arts Council, an organization founded in 1968 by Cecil Fergerson and Claude Book, who were Black art preparators who worked at LACMA, to advocate for African American artists and to support their community. The Broad’s presentation includes additional works by Hammons and White, on view for the first time in this touring exhibition, including Hammons’ Spade (Power for the Spade), 1969 and The Door (Admissions Office), 1969, and White’s J’Accuse! No. 5, 1966.

The aftermath of the Watts Rebellion and its impact on the assemblage movement is explored in a gallery featuring the work of Melvin Edwards, Daniel LaRue Johnson, John Outterbridge, Noah Purifoy, John T. Riddle and Saar. The Broad has expanded the gallery to include three additional works by Riddle and Johnson, adding depth to the display. Two of the pieces are Johnson’s early assemblage works, Dolless Hour, 1962 and The Big N, 1963, which emphasize the artist’s contributions during his formative years in Los Angeles.

The Broad is the only United States exhibition venue to show two important works from Tate Modern’s originating presentation: Icon for My Man Superman (Superman Never Saved Any Black People – Bobby Seale), 1969 by Hendricks and Watts Riot, 1966 by Purifoy. Watts Riot is on loan to The Broad from the California African American Museum in Los Angeles, the largest institutional lender to The Broad’s presentation with seven loans. In addition, The Broad will also be the only United States venue to show works by Hammons and Saar that will be seen for the first time since the exhibition originated at Tate Modern, including Hammons’ Injustice Case, 1971 and Saar’s I’ve Got Rhythm, 1972. Injustice Case, 1971 is on loan from LACMA, where it was on view as part of the Three Graphic Artists exhibition and was a central image in the 1971 exhibition’s brochure.

Featuring the work of 60 artists and including vibrant paintings, powerful sculptures, street photography, murals and more, this landmark exhibition is a rare opportunity to see era-defining artworks that changed the face of art in America.

RELATED EXHIBITION INFORMATION:

Time is Running Out of Time: Experimental Film and Video from the L.A. Rebellion and Today
Feb. 2-Sept. 14, 2019
Tickets: Free
Location: Art + Practice, 3401 W. 43rd Place, Los Angeles, 90008

In association with Soul of a Nation, Art + Practice and The Broad will present Time is Running Out of Time: Experimental Film and Video from the L.A. Rebellion and Today at Art + Practice in Leimert Park, Los Angeles. The exhibition presents early short works of Black filmmakers and video artists in Los Angeles in dialogue with works from following generations. Across generations, themes include the robust representation of communities, families, and lineages and the complexities of identities informed by social and political realities. Curated by The Broad’s Jheanelle Brown, programs manager, and Sarah Loyer, associate curator and exhibitions manager, the exhibition recognizes the vital work and deep influence of the L.A. Rebellion filmmakers, offering LA audiences a fuller understanding of the era addressed by Soul of a Nation. For more information, visit www.artandpractice.org.

This exhibition is presented by Art + Practice in collaboration with The Broad, and is curated by The Broad’s Jheanelle Brown, Programs Manager and Sarah Loyer, Associate Curator and Exhibitions Manager.

About The Broad
The Broad is a contemporary art museum founded by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Gensler, the museum offers free general admission and presents an active program of rotating temporary exhibitions and innovative audience engagement. The Broad is home to more than 2,000 works of art in the Broad collection, which is among the most prominent holdings of postwar and contemporary art worldwide.

The 120,000-square-foot building features two floors of gallery space and is the headquarters of The Broad Art Foundation’s worldwide lending library, which has been loaning collection works to museums around the world since 1984. Since opening in September 2015, The Broad has welcomed more than 2.5 million visitors. Generous support is provided by Leading Partner East West Bank.

For more information on The Broad and to sign up for updates, please visit thebroad.org.