Black Light Series #7, Ego Painting, 1969 Oil on canvas 76 x 76 cm 30 x 30 in

Faith Ringgold

April 26 to June 16,2018

W.E.B. Du Bois Lecture (Humboldt-University):
April 23, 2018, 6.30pm

The work of artist Faith Ringgold (* 1930, Harlem, New York) is of exceptional contemporary significance and enjoys international recognition. Her achievements as an artist, teacher, and activist have received numerous honors, including 24 honorary doctorates. Her books have been awarded over 30 prestigious awards. Ringgold’s work is represented in all major museums in the United States. The Museum of Modern Art recently acquired the large-size work American People Series # 20: Die (1967), which was recently exhibited at the Tate Modern in London as part of the exhibition Soul of a Nation. This exhibition is the first solo exhibition by the artist, whose work was exhibited in Germany at Kunsthaus Hamburg (with the Gedok Association) and at Documenta 5 in 1972.

Spanning media such as painting, graphics, collage, textile art, and sculpture, Ringgold’s work captivates through the precise and masterly use of materials and artistic processes as well as the integration of their cultural and political significance. The work of the artist is based on her critical, global, and art-historical expertise: she precisely uses figuration, abstraction, and constructivism to give depth and power to her content. Since 1961, the artist has traveled extensively. On her trips to Europe she visited museums such as the Louvre and the Stedelijk Museum. In 1976, first visits to Ghana and Nigeria followed.

Works by Faith Ringgold address issues of race, gender, and economic status. Among the works to be seen in Berlin is Ringgold’s Ego Painting (1969), expressing her political identity as a black feminist: the three words “Ringgold”, “black,” and “America” are arranged in geometric shapes in a color palette of blue, red, and black on the square canvas. Man (1967), also from the Black Light Series, illustrates Ringgold’s interest in African art and typographic design. Hate Is A Sin, a screen print from 2007, describes Ringgold’s experience with racism in New York in 1968. The large-size painted storyquilt Marlon Riggs: Tongues Untied, also exhibited in Berlin, was created in honor of the eponymous filmmaker and author shortly after his death in 1994. The benefit of the quilting technique for Ringgold has both historical-political and practical reasons: the painted quilts could easily be transported to lectures in schools and museums. The artist’s lifelong friendship with jazz musicians such as Sonny Rollins finds its expression in the series Jazz Drawings (2002-2003).

In the context of the exhibition and in collaboration with the Ford Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art, and the U.S. Embassy, Faith Ringgold will be holding the Distinguished W.E.B. Dubois Lecture of the Humboldt University.

The artist will be present at the opening of the exhibition on April 24, 2018 in Bundesallee 221, 10719 Berlin.

Black Light Series #2: Man 1967 Oil on canvas 76 x 61 cm 30 x 24 in

Hate is a Sin, Flag 2007 Silkscreen 57 x 56 cm 22.5 x 22 in

Hate is a Sin, Fem Fable 2007 Silkscreen 57 x 56 cm 22.5 x 22 in

Martin Luther King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail 2008 Acrylic on paper 56.5 x 38 cm 22 x 15 in

Tar Beach #2 1990-2 Silkscreen on silk 168 x 165 cm 66 x 65 in

Save Our Children in Atlanta 1981 Poster 51 x 35.5 cm 20 x 14 in

Black Face Mask #10 1973 Velvet, shells, and sequins 35 x 23 cm 13,5 x 9 in

Jazz Drawings #1: Wynton 2002 Marker on paper 19 x 13 cm 7.5 x 5 in

Jazz Drawings #3: Gonna Get On Away From You 2002 Marker on paper 19 x 13 cm 7.5 x 5 in

Jazz Drawings #6: Love Me Like You Did Last Night 2002 Marker on paper 27 x 20 cm 10.5 x 8 in

Jazz Drawings #7: Love Me Like You Did Last Night 2003 Marker on paper 27 x 20 cm 10.5 x 8 in

Jazz Drawings #9: I Don’t Wanna Love You 2003 Marker on paper 27 x 20 cm 10.5 x 8 in

Moma in a Chair Reading to Her Three Children 1980 Soft sculpture 30 x 20 x 23 cm 12 x 8 x 9 in

Feminist Series #6: There Was One of Two Things… 1972/1992 Acrylic on canvas, cloth, quilted borders 118 x 87 cm 46.5 x 34.5 in

Feminist Series #12: We Meet the Monster 1972/1993 Acrylic on canvas framed in cloth 127 x 83 cm 50 x 32.5 in

Marlon Riggs: Tongues Untied 1994 Storyquilt 226 x 151 cm 89 x 59.5 in

Marlon’s Quilt 1994 Color pencil on paper 21,5 x 28 cm 8,5 x 11 in

Seven Passages to a Flight 1997 Storyquilt 127 x 107 cm 50 x 42 in

Flag #3 2003 Felt pen and gouache on paper 22 x 25 cm 8.5 x 10 in

Flag #4 2003 Felt pen and gouache on paper 22 x 25 cm 8.5 x 10 in

Faith Ringgold

Born 1930 in New York, United States
Lives and works in New York

Solo Exhibitions (selected)

2018

Sugar Hill Museum of Art and Storytelling, New York, United States
Faith Ringgold: Art and Activism, ACA Galleries, New York, United States
Weiss Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Faith Ringgold: An American Artist, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, United States
2017

The Magnificent Faith Ringgold, Houston Museum of African American Culture, Houston, United States
Faith Ringgold: Story Quilts, National Building Museum, Washington DC, United States
2013

American People, Black Light: Faith Ringgold’s Paintings of the 1960’s,
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, United States
2010

American People, Black Light: Faith Ringgold’s Paintings of the 1960’s,
Neuberger Museum of Art, New York, United States
1998

Dancing at the Louvre: Faith Ringgold’s French Collection
and Other Story Quilts, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, United States
1997

Magical Tales of Lonnie, San Diego Children’s Museum,
San Diego, United States
1996

Faith Ringgold: The French Collection Story Quilts, The Hudson River Museum of Westchester, New York, United States
Faith Ringgold: Paintings and Drawings Spanning Four
Decades, A.C.A. Gallery, New York, United States
1994

Currents 57: Faith Ringgold, The St. Louis Art Museum,
St. Louis, United States
1993

Inspirations: Exploring the Art of Faith Ringgold, The
Textile Museum, Washington, United States
Dinner at Aunt Connie’s House and Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky, Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library,
Hewlett, United States
1992

Faith Ringgold: The French Collection, Bernice Steinbaum
Gallery, New York, United States
1991

Faith Ringgold: Story Quilts, duPont Gallery, Washington and
Lee University, Lexington, United States
1990

Faith Ringgold: Celebrating Cultural Diversity in the
American Theatre, Grove Gallery, University of California,
San Diego, United States
Faith Ringgold: A Twenty-Five Year Survey, Fine Arts Museum
of Long Island (FAMLI), Hempstead, United States
1989

Faith Ringgold: Paintings/Quilts, Simms Fine Art, New
Orleans, United States
Faith Ringgold, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington,
Seattle, United States
1988

Retrospective Exhibition, Sims Gallery, New Orleans, United States
Faith Ringgold: Change 2: Painted Story Quilts, Bernice
Steinbaum Gallery, New York, United States
Faith Ringgold: Paintings & Sculpture, Vaughn Cultural
Center, St. Louis, United States
1987

Faith Ringgold: Painted Story Quilts, Baltimore Museum of
Art, Baltimore, United States
Change: Faith Ringgold’s New Work, Real Art Ways, Hartford, United States
Faith Ringgold: Painted Story Quilts, Bernice Steinbaum
Gallery, New York, United States
1985

Faith Ringgold: Painting, Sculpture & Performance, College
of Wooster Art Museum, Wooster, United States
1984

Faith Ringgold: Twenty Years of Painting, Sculpture and
Performance (1963-1984), The Studio Museum in Harlem, New
York, United States
California Dah, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, United States
Paintings, Sculpture and Masks, Appalachian State
University, Boone, United States
1983

Faith Ringgold: Black and Feminist Art, Lehigh University,
Bethlehem, United States
Paintings, Sculpture and Masks, San Antonio College, San
Antonio, United States
1981

The Wake and Resurrection of the Bicentennial Negro, Trinity
College, Hartford, United States
1980

Faith Ringgold: Soft Sculpture, Museum of African and African-American Art, Buffalo, United States
1979

Faith Ringgold: Paintings from the Sixties, Summit Gallery,
New York, United States
Woman on a Pedestal, Texas Technical University,
Lubbock, United States
1978

Harlem ’78, Hampton Institute, Hampton, United States
The Wake and Resurrection of the Bicentennial Negro, St.
Edwards University, Austin, United States
1977

The Wake and Resurrection of the Bicentennial Negro, Hamilton-Kirkland College, Clinton, United States
1976

The Wake and Resurrection of the Bicentennial Negro,
tableau, Wilson College, Chambersberg, United States
Paintings, Sculpture and Masks, Polk Community College,
Winterhaven, United States
1975

Paintings, Sculpture and Masks, University of Wisconsin,
Superior, United States
1974

Paintings and Masks, Lamar University, Beaumont, United States
Paintings, Sculpture and Masks, University of Tennessee,
Chattanooga, United States
1973

Faith Ringgold: 10 Year Retrospective, Voorhees Gallery,
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, United States
Paintings and Masks, Wellesley College, Wellesley, United States
1972

Political Landscapes and Posters, Louisiana State
University, Baton Rouge, United States
1970

America Black, Spectrum Gallery, New York, United States
1967

American People, Spectrum Gallery, New York, United States

Group Exhibitions (selected)

2017

Soul of A Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, The Brooklyn Museum, New York, United States
2017

Soul of A Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom
We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women 1965-85, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, United States
From the Collection: 1960-1969, Museum of Modern Art, New York, United States
Work and Leisure in American Art, Gallery West, Brentwood, United States
Shifting: African American Women Artists and The Power of Their Gaze, David Driskell Center, Baltimore, United States
2016

Rhythm & Roots: Dance in American Art, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, United States
2015

African American Art After 1950: Perspectives, Figge Art Museum, Davenport, United States
2014

Post-Picasso Contemporary Reactions, Museu Picasso, Barcelona, Spain
Witness: Art and Civil Rights in the Sixties, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, United States
My Art, My World, A Look at Contemporary African American Artists, Eastern Kentucky
1988

Committed to Print, Museum of Modern Art, New York, United States
1985

Whitney Biennale, Whitney Musuem of American Art, New York, United States
1972

Documenta IV, Kassel, Germany

Education
- 1959
  
  M.A., City College of New York, New York, United States
- 1955
  
  B.S., City College of New York, New York, United States

weiss berlin

weiss berlin

Faith Ringgold

Faith Ringgold