Black Index

de Bridget R. Cooks, Sarah Watson

The artists featured in "The Black Index"--Dennis Delgado, Alicia Henry, Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle, Titus Kaphar, Whitfield Lovell and Lava Thomas--build upon the tradition of Black self-representation as an antidote to colonialist images. Their translations of photography challenge the medium's long-assumed qualities of objectivity, legibility and identification. Using drawing, sculpture and digital technology to transform the recorded image, these artists question our reliance on photography as a privileged source for documentary objectivity and historical understanding. The works featured here offer an alternative practice--a Black index. In the hands of these six artists, the index still serves as a finding aid for information about Black subjects, but it also challenges viewers' desire for classification and, instead, redirects them toward alternative information. Exhibition: Hunter College Art Galleries, Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Gallery, New York, USA (01.10. - 29.11.2020) / Contemporary Art Center Gallery, Irvine, USA (Winter 2020 -Spring 2021) / Palo Alto Art Center, USA (Summer 2021).