The Mills College Art Museum will join the Oakland Museum of California and the African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO) to present the first exhibition exploring the history of black photography from 1840 to the present, with more than 300 powerful images by 120 photographers. This unique three-museum collaboration comprises the only complete western U.S. exhibit of Reflections in Black: Smithsonian African American Photography.
Showing June 7 through August 10, the Mills section of the exhibit, A History Deconstructed, features 75 photo-based works of art by 37 contemporary African American photographers who use images to construct and deconstruct their personal histories and public personas. Together, the works expose and undermine rigid conceptions of race and gender in contemporary American culture. The artists include Albert Chong, Lorna Simpson, Lynn Marshall-Linnemeir, Thomas Allan Harris, Lyle Ashton Harris, Cynthia Wiggins, Carrie Mae Weems, Chris Johnson and Stephen Marc.
The AAMLO and Oakland Museum exhibits will be presented June 7 through August 31. AAMLO will feature The First 100 Years, 1842 -- 1942, and the Oakland Museum exhibit, Art and Activism, will offer images from the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The following events will be featured at Mills in conjunction with A History Deconstructed:
* Free Opening Reception, Saturday, June 7, 6 -- 8 p.m.* Jazz and Poetry Nights, Wednesdays, June 11, 18, 25 and July 2, 9 and 16, 6 -- 7:30 p.m. Performances by Bay Area musicians and poets from Oakland's African American community.* Family Art Workshops, Saturdays from June 14 -- August 9, 11 a.m. -- 4 p.m. Children and parents engage in portrait drawing, clay making, and outdoor playing on the beautiful Mills campus.* Exhibition Tours, Saturdays from June 14 -- August 9, 1 p.m. and upon request for groups of five or more with advance reservations (call 510-430-2164 for information or reservations).* Photo-Based Workshop with Artist Keba Konte, for fathers/mentors and children, Saturday, July 19, Sunday July 20 and Saturday, July 26, 11 a.m. -- 2 p.m. $20 per family includes lunch and exploration of portraiture, history and photography (call 510-430-2164 for information or to register).
Reflections in Black was curated by former Smithsonian curator Deborah Willis and organized by the Anacostia Museum and Center for African-American History and Culture (Smithsonian Institution). Professor of photography and imaging at the New York University School of the Arts, Willis is a nationally respected photographer, historian and author of the book Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present (Norton 2000).
The Mills College Art Museum welcomes the public free of admission and is devoted to the education of Mills College students. Located at 5000 MacArthur Blvd. in Oakland, the Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and Wednesday until 7:30 p.m. For further information call 510-430-2164 or visit the website at http://www.mills.edu/MCAM.
PHOTO CAPTION: "The James Twins," Dawoud Bey, Polacolor ER prints, 1992. Courtesy of the Rhona Hoffman Gallery.
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