Hidden Figures: Faith Ringgold (Patreon)

Hidden Figures: Faith Ringgold

'Faith Ringgold is an American artist and author who became famous for innovative, quilted narrations like Tar Beach that communicate her political beliefs. Faith Ringgold was born in New York City in 1930. While working as an art teacher in public schools, she began a series of paintings called American People, which portrayed the civil rights movement from a female perspective. In the 1970s, she created African-style masks, painted political posters and actively sought the racial integration of the New York art world. During the 1980s, she began a series of quilts that are among her best-known works, and she later embarked on a successful career as a children's book author and illustrator. The early 1960s would prove to be a pivotal period for Faith. She married Burdette Ringgold on May 19, 1962 and also embarked on creating a series of paintings—American People—that today rank among her most important work. Centered around themes from the civil rights movement, paintings such as Neighbors, Die and The Flag Is Bleeding all capture the racial tensions of the era. Ringgold's first solo gallery show in 1967 featured the American People series. After leaving her teaching job in 1973, Ringgold was free to focus on her art more. She began to pursue working in other mediums. She first branched out with a collection of portrait sculptures called The Harlem Series and then she created African-influenced masks that were included in performance pieces. During this period she also made posters in support of the Black Panthers and activist Angela Davis. After attempting unsuccessfully to have her autobiography published, at the turn of the decade Ringgold discovered a new way to tell her story. Once more drawing her inspiration from Tibetan art, and in honor of her mother’s early influence, Ringgold began a series of quilts that are perhaps her best-known work. She assembled the first quilt, Echoes of Harlem in 1980 (a year before her mother passed away) and went on to make numerous others, eventually incorporating text as well. Among her narrative quilts are Who’s Afraid of Aunt Jemima (1983), the Michael Jackson tribute Who’s Bad? (1988) and her most famous offering, Tar Beach (Part 1 from the Woman on the Bridge series (1988), which is now part the Guggenheim Museum's permanent collection. Her work continues to be exhibited in major museums around the world.' #HiddenFigures #FaithRinggold ****************** Merchandise! MAKE SURE U GETTA SHIRT!! https://www.teepublic.com/user/sssseren Follow me on social media! Instagram: @sensei_aishitemasu Personal Tumblr: http://sensei-aishitemasu.tumblr.com Tumblr for my work: https://sssseren.tumblr.com Snapchat: sssseren GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/tc5wh7q Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seren_sensei ****************** Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture' Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/About-That-Contemporary-Essays-Culture-ebook/dp/B013V0CHK6 Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6 Digital download (e-book): https://gumroad.com/l/IkUa ****************** Links: Artist Faith Ringgold talks about the process of creating the Tar Beach story quilt (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=794M-mcOJY4 Faith Ringgold: Artist & Activist (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Comf9SetjRA&index= Faith Ringgold - Quilting as an Art Form (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lia6SFTOeu8&index=3&list 'For Faith Ringgold, the American Flag Has Always Been a Potent and Powerful Symbol:' https://www.culturetype.com/2018/07/04/for-faith-ringgold-the-american-flag-has-always-been-a-potent-and-powerful-symbol/ 'Artist Faith Ringgold to open National African American Quilt Convention with keynote at Spencer Museum:' http://news.ku.edu/2018/07/02/artist-faith-ringgold-open-national-african-american-quilt-convention-keynote-spencer 'The Storyteller: At 85, Her Star Still Rising, Faith Ringgold Looks Back on Her Life in Art, Activism, and Education:' http://www.artnews.com/2016/03/01/the-storyteller-faith-ringgold/ 'Faith Ringgold:' https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/faith-ringgold 'The Enduring Power of Faith Ringgold’s Art:' https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-why-faith-ringgold-matters 'Faith Ringgold:' https://www.artsy.net/artist/faith-ringgold?page=1&sort=-partner_updated_at 'Faith Ringgold:' https://www.biography.com/people/faith-ringgold-9459066 'Faith Ringgold:' https://www.theartstory.org/artist-ringgold-faith.htm http://www.faithringgold.com/ringgold/default.htm Faith Ringgold (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_Ringgold