Converging Realities: Hammonds House Museum Collection exhibit and the new John Rhoden Sculpture Garden will open simultaneously on September 20.
Converging Realities is a captivating exhibition from the Hammonds House Museum permanent collection. It takes visitors on a remarkable journey through the dynamic interplay of artistic expressions spanning the 19th century to the present day. This diverse collection, curated by the Artistic Chair Halima Taha, Gallery Associate Lydia Kimbrough, and Hammonds House Museum Collection Scholar Kevin Sipp, presents a tapestry of aesthetic movements that have shaped the artistic landscape, including Romanticism, Impressionism, Modernism, and contemporary art from Africa, the Caribbean, and North America. Opening night is Friday, September 20 from 6:30-8:30 pm. To RSVP, click HERE.
This exhibition brings together self-taught and formally trained artists from around the globe showcasing vibrant, diverse perspectives with shared cultural narratives through five thematic elements: 1) Historical Context and Influence; 2) Cultural Exchange and Evolution; 3) Colonial Legacies and Resistance; 4) Cosmopolitan Modernism; 5) Diversity, Power, and Beauty. These diverse artistic voices create a rich tapestry of expressions that reflect multiple intersections and cultural collisions that are geographically unmoored between cultural heritage, modernism, and colonialism. Their art is a powerful tool to bridge cultural divides and promote understanding.
Some of the artists in this exhibition of more than 40 artists include:
- Hale Woodruff (1900-1980) was a painter, draftsman, and printmaker. He is best known for his scenes depicting the struggles and triumphs of Black life. Woodruff worked in both abstraction and figural representation for most of his six-decade career. His works incorporate influences as varied as African art, Cubism, Abstract Expressionism, and Mexican Muralism. The Studio Museum in Harlem’s collection includes dozens of paintings and works on paper by Woodruff.
Born in Cairo, IL, and raised in Nashville, TN, Woodruff traveled broadly, studying art in Indianapolis, Chicago, Paris, and Mexico. A noted educator, he taught at Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University) from 1931 to 1946, chairing the Fine Art Department for several years. He also established the Atlanta University Art Annuals (1942–1970) to counter the lack of exhibition opportunities for African American artists. Woodruff taught art at New York University from 1947 until his retirement in 1968.
- Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012), a sculptor and printmaker, is widely considered one of the most important African American artists of the 20th century. Throughout her career Catlett used art in support of issues that mattered to her – freedom, race and ethnicity, feminism and maternalism – and fought oppression, racism, class, and gender inequality. An American and Mexican citizen, Catlett is best known for her depictions of African American women, the African American experience, and Mexican people who faced injustice. For Catlett, art was a tool for social and political change. Her printmaking work included linocuts, lithographs, and etchings, often depicted strong, defiant female figures as symbols of resistance and empowerment. In addition to her acclaimed prints, Catlett also made a significant mark in the world of sculpture. Her dynamic, abstract figures in wood, bronze, and stone embodies themes of resilience, labor, and the human condition. Throughout her lengthy career, Elizabeth Catlett remained a dedicated educator and activist, using her art as a platform to advocate for the rights and representation of marginalized communities.
- Romare Bearden (1911–1988). Bearden’s life and art encompassed a broad range of interests including music, performing arts, history, and literature. He graduated from New York University (NYU) with a degree in education. While there he was lead cartoonist and art editor for The Medley. From 1935-1937 he was a weekly cartoonist for the Baltimore Afro-American. After joining the Harlem Artists Guild, Bearden embarked on a lifelong study of art, gathering inspiration from masters including Cezanne, Picasso and Matisse, as well as African art, and Japanese prints. His first solo shows were in Harlem in 1940 and Washington, DC in 1944.
In 1954 Bearden married Nanette Rohan. In the1970’s they established a residence on the Caribbean Island of St. Martin, and some of his later work reflects the island’s lush landscape.
Romare Bearden – Urban Street Scene, 1979
Bearden is best known for his richly textured collages, his artwork is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and The Studio Museum in Harlem.
- Papa Ibra Tall (1935- 2015) was a Senegalese painter, illustrator and tapestry weaver and a pivotal figure in the history of African modernism, The artist was deeply involved with the Négritude movement, which protested colonialism; promoted African heritage, culture, and identity; and advocated for Pan-African and Afro-diasporic solidarity. After encountering the movement, as well as the American Black Jazz movement while studying in Paris in the 1950s, he returned to Senegal to find the École de Dakar with Iba Ndiaye and Pierre Lods in 1960, where he sought to encourage the development of an identifiable Pan-African lexicon. Tall’s practice demonstrates his commitment to Négritude which he explored through various media. Featuring vibrant colors and sinuous lines that transverse the entire canvas, page, or tapestry, each mark or thread in Tall’s work is methodically and rhythmically placed.
- Mary Lovelace O’Neal (b.1942) is a renowned American abstract expressionist artist. Born in Laurel, MS, O’Neal studied art at Howard University, where she was a student of the influential African American art historian and curator David C, Driskell. O’Neal’s paintings are characterized by vivid colors, bold brushstrokes, and abstract, non-representational forms. Her work is firmly rooted in the tradition of abstract expressionism, which emerged in the 1940s and 1950s. Her abstract style also reflects her personal experiences and perspectives as an African American woman artist. While O’Neal’s painting style is in the tradition of abstract expressionism, with its emphasis on spontaneous, emotive brushwork and bold use of color, she has explored other media. Her printmaking work is highly acclaimed, with the artist experimenting with techniques like lithography, etching, and silkscreen to create richly textured, multilayered compositions.
- Oliver Lee Jackson was born in 1935 in St. Louis, MO. He is a painter, sculptor, printmaker, and draftsman whose work is grounded in figuration. He has received numerous commissions for paintings, sculptures, and theater set designs which include creating a marble obelisk for the Federal Courthouse in Oakland, CA; a painting for the State Office Building in San Francisco, CA; and sets for the Cleveland and San Jose Ballet companies. As an instructor, lecturer, and professor of art from 1964 to 2002, Jackson has taught and lectured in Art, Philosophy, and Pan African Humanities and been an Artist-In-Residence at universities across the US. Jackson’s artworks are in collections of The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; New Orleans Museum of Art; St. Louse Art Museum; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; San Francisco Museum of Contemporary Art and others.
- Préfète Duffaut (1923–2012) was a major Haitian painter. He developed a distinct style that earned him national and international recognition. He was introduced to DeWitt Peters, soon after the Centre D’Art Haitien opened in 1944, and Peters selected him to paint the frescoes on the Episcopal Cathedral in Port-au-Prince.
Duffaut was well known for his paintings of fantastical mystical cityscapes. He recounted that his call to paint was inspired by a vision of the virgin who appeared to him at the top of a mountain, ordering him to paint his city. In the 1960s, Duffaut moved with his family to Port-au-Prince. He made the imaginary city his favorite subject and created paintings of mystical inspiration. In a 70-year career, the artist produced an immense body of work and exhibited in galleries and museums around the world including Musée du College Saint-Pierre in Port-au-Prince, Grand Palais in Paris, the Waterloo Museum in Canada and MoMA in New York.
- Danny Simmons (b.1952) is an American artist, author, and community leader known for his abstract expressionist paintings and his work in the literary arts. Simmons began his artistic career in the 1980s, developing a unique abstract style that combined elements of African, Caribbean, and urban American influences, featuring vibrant colors and rhythmic compositions. In addition to his visual art, Simmons is an accomplished writer and has published several books including a collection of poetry titled “The Brown Beatnik Tomes.” He has also been involved in community initiatives in New York and Philadelphia including the establishment of Corridor Gallery and Rush Arts. His contributions to the arts and his commitment to supporting and nurturing the creative community have earned him numerous accolades, including the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the African American Women in the Arts organization.
Hammonds House Museum is a 501(c)3 arts organization whose mission is to celebrate and share the cultural diversity and important legacy of artists of African descent. The former residence of the late Dr. Otis Thrash Hammonds, a prominent Atlanta physician and passionate arts patron, the museum is in a beautiful Victorian home at 503 Peeples Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30310. Hammonds House Museum’s 2024 exhibitions are supported by a series of workshops, public programs, and civic engagement activities which serve as companions to the works and opportunities for the community to have a deeper experience with the art. For information about upcoming events, to join the mailing list, to become a member, or to plan your visit, go to the website: hammondshouse.org.
Hammonds House Museum is generously supported by Fulton County Board of Commissioners through the Fulton County Department of Arts and Culture, City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, National Performance Network, The Estate of Dr. Doris Derby, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, as well as donors and members.