Paris, France — Artist, writer, activist. The works of the American artist Faith Ringgold have been given their very first retrospective in France at the Musée Picasso Paris. Entitled Black is Beautiful, the show brings together a host of her major works in diverse mediums ranging from her paintings to painted quilts and tankas, Tibetan and Nepalese cloth paintings. Born in New York City in 1930, she was raised in Harlem and she remains an emblematic figure of committed and feminist American art from the struggles for civil rights to those of Black Lives Matter. She offers a bridge from the Harlem Renaissance to today’s contemporary young black American artists. The show has been organized in collaboration with the New Museum which held a retrospective of her work in early 2022.

Her American People series is on display, figurative and realistic painting compositions commenting on the American way of life in the aftermath of segregation. The tanka medium provided her with inspiration for her first textile series of 19 paintings entitled Slave Rape. This was in a way a family project, the borders were designed by her mother, Willie Posey, a couturier and they depict Ringgold and her two daughters against a landscape background in the first three tankas.

« In the 1970s, I discovered my roots in African art and began to paint and create art specific to my identities as a black woman. I made dolls and masks inspired by my painting. I began to write in my art and tell my story not only with images but words and in masked performance, » commented the artist who today lives in the New York Metropolitan area.

The author of numerous children’s books which she has both written and illustrated, Ringgold is perhaps best known for her painted quilts which bring together a central painted picture with a border of dense text. These are uplifting, imaginary narratives showcased in the French Collection series in which she portrays a young African-American artist seeking her way in 1920s Paris. Conferences and workshops are all on the agenda. This year the Picasso museum is marking the 50th anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso with a host of special exhibitions and cultural activities. Faith Ringgold exhibition until July 2nd. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette. 5 Rue de Thorigny, 75003 Paris, France. Tel: +33 (0)1 85 56 00 36. https://www.museepicassoparis.fr/fr