black is, mostly....

In Chicago lately there have been some good discussions about the utility and fate of the notion of 'post-black.' I heard a lot about the event from last Sunday, the Renaissance Society's Post-Black: There and Back Again panel, which is part of the excellent Black Is, Black Ain't show up now, but couldn't make it myself. I had things to do here in Madison, like cut the grass. Plus, I was still processing the Black Enough? discussion from last Thursday. That encounter was impressive for its diversity. It was bits of the Bronzeville/Hyde Park/South Shore artist/dealer/collector scene meeting the black art historians who teach at the white-dominated academies. It was Patric McCoy laying out his agenda as a collector who believes in the imperatives of cultural survival and Huey Copeland speaking of blackness as a sociohistorical construction. It was Kym Pinder reminding everybody how thin the art historical record is, when it comes to the African American artists of the earlier generations. There were a lot of local black artists on hand, plus for good measure a handful of social art activist types in the crowded room. Theaster Gates put the event together and took the floor several times. I thought the collective spirit struck a promising tenor, but I'm wondering how committed folk are to the conversation. Honestly and collectively mapping the contours of the black art world is going to take some focused effort over time, with key voices staying engaged. Only then will we fully realize the formal and political potential in black art. Kerry James's project at the Wexner from earlier this year reminds us that the formal and the political may be the same thing.