upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024

upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024

back to blog

Under Color of Law: African American Artists on Race, Privilege, Speech and Historical Memory

The work of Nsenga Knight (ACG '10), Terry Adkins, Hank Willis Thomas, Nari Ward, and Carrie Mae Weems can be seen in Under Color of Law at the Berman Museum of Ursinus College (601 East Main Street, Collegeville) on through May 15. 

Under Color of Law brings together works by five acclaimed African American artists to catalyze important conversations about race, privilege, speech, and historical memory. The exhibition’s title refers to the legal term for the appearance of authority that covers the actions of police or other government figures, whether those actions are lawful or not. Though it responds to a national climate of rising tensions regarding the relationships between law enforcement and minority communities, Under Color of Law proposes a wider angle of view — one shaped not only by the quick conclusions of viral media, but by layers of historical context. The works in the exhibition evoke the activism of W.E.B Du Bois, the final speeches of Malcolm X, the legacy of Jim Crow, the marches from Selma to Montgomery, or the disturbing bureaucracy of “stop-and-frisk,” with all pointing to the same essential dilemma—how should individuals respond to their perception of injustice?

For more information, click here.

 

back to blog back to top