For Immediate Release:
March 29, 2011
Media Contact:
Nancy Colvin, 614.629.0303
nancy.colvin@cmaohio.org
COLUMBUS MUSEUM OF ART PRESENTS
STREET TALK AND SPIRITUAL MATTERS:
AMINAH’S MT. VERNON AVENUE
(Columbus, OH) – The Columbus Museum of Art presents Street Talk and Spiritual Matters: Aminah’s Mt. Vernon Avenue May 20 – September 4. The exhibition explores two related aspects of Aminah Robinson’s work: her documentation of the Mt. Vernon Avenue community where she grew up and her depictions of women who personify the African-American spirituals she heard emanating from area churches and radios in the neighborhood.
“The work in this exhibition pulsates with Aminah’s drive to document and remember,” said Carole Genshaft, CMA adjunct curator of education. “ The Mt. Vernon paintings and prints reflect stories handed down from her ancestors, personal memories, and her careful research from primary sources. Aminah’s depiction of spirituals honors the memory of the slaves who used these songs as a coping mechanism before and during the Civil War. Through her work in diverse media and subject, Aminah reminds us that it is our ability to remember that makes us human.”
Street Talk features Aminah’s RagGonNons, paintings, drawings, hogmawg sculptures, prints, and books about Mt. Vernon Avenue, the heart of the African-American community in Columbus, Ohio from the 1900s to the 1960s. While the discrimination of Jim Crow abounded outside the neighborhood, the Mt. Vernon area was a tight-knit community where family and commercial life flourished. Aminah captured this spirit in “Memory Maps” that document the lively street life and each shop, church, and business establishment on the street. Her depiction of civil rights protests and Marcus Garvey back-to-Africa parades allude to the serious civil rights issues that plagued African Americans outside the neighborhood at the time.
In order to add context to Aminah’s work, the exhibition features video-taped interviews of individuals sharing their memories and stories of living and working on the street. Aminah’s depictions, in combination with these interviews, present a broad view of this eastside community and help visitors gain a fuller understanding of the complex historical and social issues at play.
When Aminah was growing up in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood, she was captivated by the African-American spirituals she heard emanating from area churches and radios on Sundays. Spiritual Matters highlights her interpretation of the spirituals through drawings, watercolors, and the monumental sculpture, My Lord, What a Morning. My Lord, What a Morning consists of ten, large wooden pipes from an antique organ. Each pipe has music box workings that play the spiritual, “My Lord, What a Morning.” Each pipe, which is topped with a wrought iron crown, represents a woman and together the ten pieces create a choir. My Lord, What a Morning will be surrounded by watercolor studies of the work that have not previously been exhibited. For the first time, Aminah’s twenty-six original drawings for The Teachings, a book of spirituals published in 1992 will be on view.
Visitors to the exhibition will be able to listen to a variety of the spirituals Aminah has illustrated. The recorded spirituals have been arranged specifically for the exhibition by music director and composer Milton Ruffin and performed by the Milton Ruffin Gospel Chorale.
The Columbus Museum of Art creates great experiences with great art for everyone. The Columbus Foundation, the Greater Columbus Arts Council, Nationwide Foundation, and the Ohio Arts Council provide ongoing support. CMA and the Museum Store are open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM, and until 8:30 PM every Thursday. The Palette Express is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. For additional information, call 614.221.4848 or visit www.columbusmuseum.org.
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March 29, 2011
Media Contact:
Nancy Colvin, 614.629.0303
nancy.colvin@cmaohio.org
COLUMBUS MUSEUM OF ART PRESENTS
STREET TALK AND SPIRITUAL MATTERS:
AMINAH’S MT. VERNON AVENUE
(Columbus, OH) – The Columbus Museum of Art presents Street Talk and Spiritual Matters: Aminah’s Mt. Vernon Avenue May 20 – September 4. The exhibition explores two related aspects of Aminah Robinson’s work: her documentation of the Mt. Vernon Avenue community where she grew up and her depictions of women who personify the African-American spirituals she heard emanating from area churches and radios in the neighborhood.
“The work in this exhibition pulsates with Aminah’s drive to document and remember,” said Carole Genshaft, CMA adjunct curator of education. “ The Mt. Vernon paintings and prints reflect stories handed down from her ancestors, personal memories, and her careful research from primary sources. Aminah’s depiction of spirituals honors the memory of the slaves who used these songs as a coping mechanism before and during the Civil War. Through her work in diverse media and subject, Aminah reminds us that it is our ability to remember that makes us human.”
Street Talk features Aminah’s RagGonNons, paintings, drawings, hogmawg sculptures, prints, and books about Mt. Vernon Avenue, the heart of the African-American community in Columbus, Ohio from the 1900s to the 1960s. While the discrimination of Jim Crow abounded outside the neighborhood, the Mt. Vernon area was a tight-knit community where family and commercial life flourished. Aminah captured this spirit in “Memory Maps” that document the lively street life and each shop, church, and business establishment on the street. Her depiction of civil rights protests and Marcus Garvey back-to-Africa parades allude to the serious civil rights issues that plagued African Americans outside the neighborhood at the time.
In order to add context to Aminah’s work, the exhibition features video-taped interviews of individuals sharing their memories and stories of living and working on the street. Aminah’s depictions, in combination with these interviews, present a broad view of this eastside community and help visitors gain a fuller understanding of the complex historical and social issues at play.
When Aminah was growing up in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood, she was captivated by the African-American spirituals she heard emanating from area churches and radios on Sundays. Spiritual Matters highlights her interpretation of the spirituals through drawings, watercolors, and the monumental sculpture, My Lord, What a Morning. My Lord, What a Morning consists of ten, large wooden pipes from an antique organ. Each pipe has music box workings that play the spiritual, “My Lord, What a Morning.” Each pipe, which is topped with a wrought iron crown, represents a woman and together the ten pieces create a choir. My Lord, What a Morning will be surrounded by watercolor studies of the work that have not previously been exhibited. For the first time, Aminah’s twenty-six original drawings for The Teachings, a book of spirituals published in 1992 will be on view.
Visitors to the exhibition will be able to listen to a variety of the spirituals Aminah has illustrated. The recorded spirituals have been arranged specifically for the exhibition by music director and composer Milton Ruffin and performed by the Milton Ruffin Gospel Chorale.
The Columbus Museum of Art creates great experiences with great art for everyone. The Columbus Foundation, the Greater Columbus Arts Council, Nationwide Foundation, and the Ohio Arts Council provide ongoing support. CMA and the Museum Store are open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM, and until 8:30 PM every Thursday. The Palette Express is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. For additional information, call 614.221.4848 or visit www.columbusmuseum.org.
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