Skip Navigation
MarylandToday

Produced by the Office of Marketing and Communications

Subscribe Now
Arts & Culture

Striking Poses

New Exhibition Examines Depictions of African American Beauty

By Sala Levin ’10

"Posing Beauty" exhibition

Photo by Stephanie S. Cordle

The touring exhibition "Posing Beauty in African American Culture" features approximately 85 works by artists such as Carrie Mae Weems, Charles “Teenie” Harris, Eve Arnold and Gary Winogrand.

Hair, fashion and depictions of African American women in advertising are all up for examination in “Posing Beauty in African American Culture,” the new exhibition that opened Friday in the David C. Driskell Center focuses on the study of visual arts and culture of African Americans.

The traveling exhibit, curated by Deborah Willis of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, has three themes—“Constructing a Pose,” “Body and Image” and “Modeling Beauty and Beauty Contests”—that explore how African American beauty has been depicted historically and today.

The exhibition features work from 51 artists, spanning 1898 to 2009 and is open now through April 27, Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. See some of the artwork from the exhibition below.

1 of 5

Driskell 69 Hank Willis Thomas 1920x1080

Hank Willis Thomas, “Posing Beauty,” Archival InkJet Print, 2009

Schools & Departments:

College of Arts and Humanities

Maryland Today is produced by the Office of Marketing and Communications for the University of Maryland community on weekdays during the academic year, except for university holidays.