Creating Their Own Image The History of African-American Women Artists

Hailed as "a captivating and thorough study of a long-ignored aspect of America's art history" ( CHOICE ), Creating Their Own Image offers the first comprehensive history of African-American women artists, spanning from slavery to the Harlem Renaissance and the tumultuous civil rights era, right up to the present day. Lavishly illustrated throughout with color illustrations, this magnificent volume richly details hundreds of important works--including some images never before published--to present a portrait of artistic creativity unprecedented in its scope and ambition. Weaving together an expansive collection of artists, styles, and periods, Lisa Farrington argues that for centuries African-American women artists have created an alternative vision of how women of color can, are, and might be represented in American culture. From utilitarian objects such as quilts and baskets to a wide array of fine arts, Creating Their Own Image serves up compelling evidence of the fundamental human need to convey one's life, emotions, and experiences on a canvas of one's own making.

Lisa E. Farrington is Chairperson and Professor in the Department of Art & Music at John Jay College. Her books include Faith Ringgold and Art on Fire: The Politics of Race and Sex in the Paintings of Faith Ringgold.