MMoCA | Sam Gilliam: Abstraction and Innovation Beyond the Color Field and the Color Line

Scholar and artist Dr. Freida High Wasikhongo Tesfagiorgis will explore how select Black artists from the American South turned towards abstraction in the post-World War II era, centering on Sam Gilliam’s work and artistic processes, and incorporating other artists, including Mel Edwards and Floyd Newsum (recently on view at MMoCA). Dr. High’s talk will explore the ways in which artists are and were true to themselves in abstraction and figurative compositions amid cultural and social issues and debates.