---
title: Striking Poses
date: 2019-02-07T09:00:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/striking-poses-d9c85619-0ad3-41c0-ad8a-77f87419f812"
section: Articles
---
# Striking Poses

*February 7, 2019* — by [Sala Levin ’10](/author/sala-levin-10)


> New Exhibition Examines Depictions of African American Beauty

*Driskell Center Posing Beauty SC 02012019 4421 1920x1080 0 — 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.

- **Hank Willis Thomas, “Posing Beauty,” Archival InkJet Print, 2009**
*Driskell 69 Hank Willis Thomas 1920x1080*
*Driskell Center Posing Beauty SC 02012019 4322 1920x1080*
- **(Clockwise from top left) Lauren Kelley, “Pickin',” color-coupler print, 2007; Jamel Shabazz, “Sophisticated Lady,” c print, 2007; Omar Victor Diop, “Khady,” inkjet pigment print on Hahnemuhle paper, edition of 8, 2011; Jessica Ingram, “Peace, Change, Hope, Obama,” color-coupler print, 2008**
*Driskell Center Posing Beauty SC 02012019 4262 1920x1080*
- **Left to Right: Adama Delphine Fawundu, “Blue Eyes, Cocoa Brown,” “Pecola's Blues” and “Big Fro, Brown Eyes,” archival digital print, 2011**
*Driskell Center Posing Beauty SC 02012019 4421 1920x1080*
- **On left: Jeffrey Henson Scales, “Young Man in Plaid, New York City,” digital print, 1992**
*Driskell Center Posing Beauty SC 02012019 4225 1920x1080*

**Topics:** [Arts & Culture](https://today.umd.edu/tags/arts-culture)


**Tags:** [Gender](https://today.umd.edu/topic/gender), [Visual Arts](https://today.umd.edu/topic/visual-arts)


**Units:** [College of Arts and Humanities](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-arts-and-humanities)