See Great Art
  • Home
  • Chadd Scott arts writer
  • Explore by Artist
    • Black Artists
    • Female Artists
    • Indigenous Art
  • Explore by Location
    • Art in Florida
    • Art in the Midwest
    • Art in the Northeast
    • Art in the South
    • Art in the West
    • New York City art
  • Contact
See Great Art
  • Home
  • Chadd Scott arts writer
  • Explore by Artist
    • Black Artists
    • Female Artists
    • Indigenous Art
  • Explore by Location
    • Art in Florida
    • Art in the Midwest
    • Art in the Northeast
    • Art in the South
    • Art in the West
    • New York City art
  • Contact
Art in the MidwestBlack ArtistsFemale Artists

Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson and Elijah Pierce

By Chadd ScottPosted on July 11, 20210 Comments
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Gift Eggs, 1984 Rag painting with beads, 12 ½ x 9 ½ in. Columbus Museum of art, Estate of the Artist
Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson, Gift Eggs, 1984. Rag painting with beads, 12 ½ x 9 ½ in. Columbus Museum of art, Estate of the Artist.

I’m pitched new museum and gallery exhibitions to write about every day. I can’t write about them all of course. For one, I don’t have the time. Secondly, they don’t all interest me. Much of what I choose to write about simply comes down to a gut reaction I have upon first seeing the work. As soon as I saw the work of Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson (1940-2015), I knew I would write about her.

Vibrant, animated, flush with story.

“Raggin’ On: The Art of Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson’s House and Journals” at the Columbus (Ohio) Museum of Art is the first major exhibition of the artist’s work since her death and a celebration of Robinson’s vision and the home and community she cherished. On view through October 3, 2021, “Raggin’ On” presents more than six decades of Aminah Robinson’s art and writing.

She created sculpture, large complex works she called RagGonNons, rag paintings, paintings on cloth, and drawings. She also created books about her family and community, African American history, her travels, and the stories she was told by her elders. Much of this is on view in the exhibition, as is an opportunity to digitally peruse a sampling of Robinson’s journals revealing memoirs filled with poetry, prose, illustrations, imaginative doodles and detailed pen, ink and watercolor depictions.

I reviewed the exhibition in detail at Forbes.com.

What I didn’t have room to mention in my Forbes article was Robinson’s connection to another legendary Columbus artist, woodcarver Elijah Pierce. Robinson considered Pierce her “spiritual mentor and friend,” often including him in drawings and paintings. These remarkable intersections of art history always fascinate me.

“He lived around the corner from her and they took long walks together,” exhibition co-curator Carole Genshaft, who spent nearly 20 years working on Museum projects with Robinson, told me. “She also visited him in his barbershop where she drew while he worked both as a barber and a woodcarver. Aminah believed that Pierce was anointed–that he had the ability to see into the souls of others and offer them healing. During a period when Aminah was floundering as a single parent with little financial means, Pierce encouraged her to keep pursuing her art.”

I have written about Elijah Pierce previously at Forbes.

As her hometown museum and the institution to which she bequeathed most of her estate, the CMA holds the most significant collection of Robinson’s work in the world and is a central location of her archives and library.

Aminah Brenda Lynn RobinsonElijah PierceFemale artist

Share

By Chadd Scott
0
0 Comments

What do you think? Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

No Comments Yet.

Florida Highwaymen Art

Instagram

seegreatart

seegreatart
Helen Frankenthaler’s ‘Eden Revisited’ (1967 Helen Frankenthaler’s ‘Eden Revisited’ (1967-1976) sure to brighten your day, it did mine on a recent visit to @sama_art @visitsanantonio. Stunning, vivid, massive (10-plus-feet tall), expressive… up close you can see the paint stains. 
I see so much drama in this painting, so much certainty, confidence. Of all the past artists I could have met, @helenfrankenthalerfoundation would be high on the list.
#helenfrankenthaler #colorfieldpainting #greatwomenartists #femaleartist #womenshistorymonth #yellow #orange #painting #modernart #visitsanantonio
3 showstoppers from @_wiggins_ at @briscoemuseum @ 3 showstoppers from @_wiggins_ at @briscoemuseum @visitsanantonio. Kim’s mark making and color are instantly recognizable and I DIG it! 
#visitsanantonio #westernart #westernartist #santafe #cowboy #purple
Harold Newton (left) and Alfred Hair side-by-side Harold Newton (left) and Alfred Hair side-by-side at @tampamuseumofart. To learn more about the original Florida Highwaymen artist, click the link in my bio.
#floridahighwaymen #haroldnewton #alfredhair #florida #floridalife #floridaartist #floridaart #floridaartists #blackartist #floridahistory
OVERWHELMED by this exhibition of #purvisyoung art OVERWHELMED by this exhibition of #purvisyoung artwork on view at @tampamuseumofart! 
What most caught my eye were all the 18-wheelers. Are these a reference to “urban renewal” and the siting of I-95 through the heart of Young’s #overtown #miami neighborhood. 
As occurred across America during 1950s-80s, so-called urban renewal was a tactic used by white politicians to destroy thriving Black communities by running interstates through them to aide white suburbanites in getting to jobs in town faster.
Young experienced Overtown on both sides of #urbanrenewal and I can’t help thinking all these trucks are commentary on I-95.
#miamilife #tampa #tampaflorida #artmuseum #blackart #blackartist #blackartmatters #selftaughtartist
I was writing about @ronjonofficial for my “My F I was writing about @ronjonofficial for my “My Favorite Florida” column on Rovology.com travel site this morning. My first visit was 86ish, my most recent visit came last month. 
#ronjonsurfshop #ronjon #cocoabeach #cocoabeachflorida #surfing #surflife #80s #80sfashion
“Florida Highwaymen: Dashboard Dreams” closes “Florida Highwaymen: Dashboard Dreams” closes at @aebackusmuseum 2/26. Best chance all year to see original Florida Highwaymen paintings. 
More info about Highwaymen check link in bio.
“Cocktails & Dreams” neon at @treylorparkhitch “Cocktails & Dreams” neon at @treylorparkhitch in #savannah. Who gets it?
#savannahgeorgia #cocktails #tomcruise #movie
Check out this #keithharing ceiling above the @nyh Check out this #keithharing ceiling above the @nyhistory admission desk! It comes from his #soho Pop Shop retail location which he opened in 1986 and was operated by @keithharingfoundation until 2005. 
Second pic his remix of a #subway sign. New-York Historical Society has an AMAZING modern + contemporary art collection. Highlight of my recent visit.
#subwayart #newyorksubway #newyorkhistory #newyorkhistoricalsociety #newyorkcity #newyorklife #streetart #graffiti #graffitiart
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Wyld Gallery Native American Art

Wyld Gallery, Austin, TX

Categories

  • Art in Florida
  • Art in the Midwest
  • Art in the Northeast
  • Art in the South
  • Art in the West
  • Black Artists
  • Blog
  • Canada
  • College Towns
  • Europe
  • Female Artists
  • Imbibing
  • Indigenous Artists
  • New York City art
  • Northeast Fla & Southeast Ga
  • Road Warrior
  • US – Midwest
  • US – South
  • US – West
Privacy Policy | Copyright © 2022 Chadd Scott LLC. All Rights Reserved.