Art in the City: the Spiral Show at the Studio Museum in Harlem

Godzilla, 1966, by Emma Amos

I've been meaning to get around to this, this little review of Spiral: Perspectives on an African-American Art Collective at the Studio Museum in Harlem. I'm including an excerpt from co-curator Emily G. Hanna's introduction to the original show, which opened at the Birmingham Museum of Art late last year (because I want to get this out to you now and it would take me a long time to craft suitable words to go with):

"In July 1963 Romare Bearden initiated conversations with fellow painters Hale Woodruff, Norman Lewis, and Charles Alston about the prospective role of African-American artists in the Civil Rights movement. While their original focus was the upcoming March on Washington, attention was also given to if, how, and to what degree artists might assume a meaningful placement within the social change platform of the overall movement. The discussions evolved into regular meetings at Bearden’s downtown New York Canal Street studio. Within a few weeks Spiral was established as a legitimate artist group that gathered at a rented location at 147 Christopher Street. By this time Emma Amos, Calvin Douglass, Perry Ferguson, Reginald Gammon, Felrath Hines, Alvin Hollingsworth, William Majors, Richard Mayhew, Earl Miller, and James Yeargans had joined the initial four discussants.

Woodruff suggested the name Spiral for the group, referring to the Archimedean spiral that moves outward embracing all directions yet continually upward.

The name also alluded to the diversity of styles and interests represented by the work of its membership as they collectively sought to move toward common goals as individual artists and as African-American people. Although the group seldom operated out of unanimous consent, their clear objectives were to endeavor to define the nature of their participation in the Civil Rights agenda, raise questions about the essential requirements and pertinence of a racial aesthetic sensibility, and deliberate on responses to what prominent author Ralph Ellison referred to as ‘the new visual order.’"

West, 1965, by Richard Mayhew. Photo by Marc Bernier.

The show is a small, but potent one in the sense that what we were looking at was a declaration that the nature of a black artist's participation in the civil rights movement was to dismantle the idea that blacks create in lockstep. Norman Lewis asked, likely at one of the weekly Canal Street meetings, "is there a Negro Image?" To which Felrath Hines responded, "There is no Negro Image in the twentieth century—in the 1960s. There are only prevailing ideas that influence everyone all over the world, to which the Negro has been, and is, contributing. Each person paints out of the life he lives."

"Is there a Negro image?" is a question asked and answered nearly half a century ago, but still hotly debated today among artists.

I feel especially warm toward the show because the original exhibition was co-curated by artist, art historian, educator, film critic and curator Amalia Amaki. Some years back she was instrumental in putting me in touch with and coordinating an article for American Legacy on the late collector Paul R. Jones. She was delightful to work with. The entire time working with her I felt like I had picked up my art education where I left off all those years ago at Rutgers.

My favorite paintings at the Spiral show were by Richard Mayhew and Emma Amos, and a friend of mine really connected to Bonfire, 1962, by Norman Lewis. It's not shown here but is marvelous, so go see it and find what moves you. The show is open until October 23!

A postscript: Facebook members can view a video of artist and art educator Nashormeh Lindo discussing the 1963 March On Washington and Romare Bearden's support of artists involved in the Spiral Group brought to you by the Romare Bearden Foundation.

Credit: Courtesy of Studio Museum of Harlem. If I'm violating any copyright laws by showing images from the show, please let me know and I'll be happy to remove them, please note, thought, that I'm making absolutely no money off of this review. It's meant to inform and to send folks to the show.