Richard J. Powell

Since the early 1990s, whether elected representatives at the state and national levels should be limited to a specific term of office has been a contentious public policy question. Changing Members examines the case of Maine, which in 1996 became the first state in the entire nation where legislative term limits took effect in both chambers. Authors Matthew C. Moen, Kenneth T. Palmer, and Richard J. Powell have combined original survey data collected from Maine's legislators, several dozen interviews with legislators and other political elites, and participant observation of committee and floor proceedings to provide a complete picture of the new term limits' effects. Challenging conventional thinking on term limits and offering predictions of their likely impact in other states with citizens' legislatures, Changing Members is an essential source for citizens, elected officials and government workers, and scholars of political science.

How Black painters use color to stir emotion, provoke remembrance, and uplift the spirit Color does more than capture a viewer’s attention. It assaults one’s equilibrium physically and psychologically. In this stunning book, Richard Powell draws on the concept of “colorstruck,” a twentieth-century slang term describing prejudice toward people with darker skin complexions, to provide a new history of Black American art. Powell charts the dynamics of paint and pigment in the works of important Black artists such as Jacob Lawrence, Alma Thomas, Raymond Saunders, Sam Gilliam, Hervé Télémaque, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Nina Chanel Abney, and Henry Taylor. Using blue, green, yellow, orange, black, red, brown, and their combinations, he shows how the vibrant palettes of these artists collide with the undercurrents of race in unanticipated and though-provoking ways. Demonstrating how the term “colorstruck” takes on multiple and varied associations when adapted to painting, Powell shares compelling insights into the powerful chromatic forces manifested through artists’ actions and viewers’ reactions. A landmark work by an acclaimed art historian, this richly illustrated book offers a dazzling look at the transformative use of color by some of today’s most exciting painters, revealing how hue and pigmentation strike a chord for freedom and reclamation in life as well as art. Published in association with the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

In Art as Sanctuary, Michael D. Harris considers literal and metaphorical uses of sanctuary in the Black experience and African diaspora art, including locales of spiritual expression, self-renewal, and cultural celebration. Harris offers an alternative framework to the Duboisian philosophy of double consciousness, pushing the boundaries of Africana aesthetic analysis by exploring the cultural signifiers embedded consciously or unconsciously in African diaspora art. Within these works, he reveals how these cultural cues speak to the vibrancy of African American life. While acknowledging the presence of the white observer’s gaze, Harris wishes to relieve the black interior from the panoptic assumptions of that gaze and its disciplines. Art as Sanctuary provides innovative pathways to understand African American visual culture and music as autobiographies of cultural identity and experience.

In Art as Sanctuary, Michael D. Harris considers literal and metaphorical uses of sanctuary in the Black experience and African diaspora art, including locales of spiritual expression, self-renewal, and cultural celebration. Harris offers an alternative framework to the Duboisian philosophy of double consciousness, pushing the boundaries of Africana aesthetic analysis by exploring the cultural signifiers embedded consciously or unconsciously in African diaspora art. Within these works, he reveals how these cultural cues speak to the vibrancy of African American life. While acknowledging the presence of the white observer’s gaze, Harris wishes to relieve the black interior from the panoptic assumptions of that gaze and its disciplines. Art as Sanctuary provides innovative pathways to understand African American visual culture and music as autobiographies of cultural identity and experience.

The African diaspora – a direct result of the transatlantic slave trade and Western colonialism – has generated a wide array of artistic achievements, from blues and reggae, to the paintings of the pioneering African American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner and video creations of contemporary hip-hop artists. This book concentrates on how these works, often created during times of major social upheaval and transformation, use black culture both as a subject and as context. From musings on “the souls of black folk” in late nineteenth-century art, to questions of racial and cultural identities in performance, media, and computer-assisted arts in the twenty-first century, this book examines the philosophical and social forces that have shaped a black presence in modern and contemporary visual culture. Now updated, this new edition helps us understand better how the first two decades of the twenty-first century have been a transformative moment in which previous assumptions about race, difference, and identity have been irrevocably altered, with art providing a useful lens through which to think about these compelling issues. With 218 illustrations in colour

A kaleidoscopic survey of black satire in 20th- and 21st-century American art In this groundbreaking study, Richard J. Powell investigates the visual forms of satire produced by black artists in 20th- and 21st-century America. Underscoring the historical use of visual satire as antiracist dissent and introspective critique, Powell argues that it has a distinctly African American lineage. Taking on some of the most controversial works of the past century—in all their complexity, humor, and provocation—Powell raises important questions about the social power of art. Expansive in both historical reach and breadth of media presented, Going There interweaves discussions of such works as the midcentury cartoons of Ollie Harrington, the installations of Kara Walker, the paintings of Robert Colescott, and the movies of Spike Lee. Other artists featured in the book include David Hammons, Arthur Jafa, Beverly McIver, Howardena Pindell, Betye Saar, and Carrie Mae Weems. Thoroughly researched and rich in context, Going There is essential reading in the history of satire, racial politics, and contemporary art. Published in association with the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research

Drama and Thrills - liberally spiced with Romance and Humor Marcia Thompson is a celebrated dancer in 1920's Melbourne Australia. When her best friend is kidnapped at Flemington racecourse, Marcia receives a ransom demand - the first of several - as other people she loves also fall prey to a very clever extortionist who will stop at nothing to ruin Marcia - financially, physically and emotionally. Marcia is driven to her wits end as the extortionist leads her on a not-so-merry dance around the state of Victoria. For a long time, she has no idea who this person is or why he is persecuting her. Her fianc is Inspector Jack O'Brien who is singled out for special treatment by the extortionist, but through some dogged detective work he manages to break into the extortionist's group of accomplices. He does his best to protect Marcia but when the kidnapper strikes again, Marcia decides enough is enough and circumstances force her to hatch a daring plan that will end in either her death - or freedom.

Conjuring Bearden, a richly illustrated exhibition catalog, explores the theme of the “conjur woman” in the work of artist Romare Bearden (1911–1988). Throughout his career, Bearden represented the female figure of the conjurer, or her Caribbean equivalent, the Obeah woman, in his art. Enthralled by her spirituality and power to transform, Bearden depicted the Obeah in his collage, photomontage, and watercolors. Although much has been written about Bearden, this is the first book to critically address his obsessive and creative relationship with this figure of the black vernacular. One of Bearden’s most striking methods for introducing the figure of the conjur woman in his art was by distilling Cubist and Dadaist fracture through the deconstructive aesthetics of jazz compositions and African American folk collage and assemblage. With arresting color, Bearden’s conjurers were neither eroticized nor made passive. Essays look at Bearden’s thematic presentation of African American spirituality in relation to his experiments with form and technique. They trace his visual musings on African, Caribbean, and African American expressive mysticism and examine his magical reinvention of pictorial space and time. This catalog accompanies an exhibition of the same title at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, which will be on display from March 4, 2006 through July 16, 2006. Together, they build on the findings of The Art of Romare Beaden, a major retrospective organized by the National Gallery of Art that toured nationwide.

This groundbreaking book explores the visual representations of black culture throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. From blues to rap, from the paintings of Henry Ossawa Tanner to the video pieces of Keith Piper and Steve McQueen, it draws on the work of hundreds of artists, including Wifredo Lam, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Martin Puryear, Spike Lee, Adrian Piper, Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, Chris Ofili and Yinka Shonibare. This new edition provides expanded coverage of film and video, and an additional chapter on the work of artists who have risen to prominence in recent years. Over 180 biographical notes provide a unique reference source.