Whitfield Lovell

Accompanying a major exhibition, this book provides a comprehensive look at this MacArthur Fellows award–winning artist’s ongoing exploration of the African-American experience. Whitfield Lovell: Kin centers on a sumptuously reproduced portfolio of the artist’s Kin series, in which images of anonymous African-Americans are paired with found objects evoking their personalities and experiences. Tangible presences that powerfully connect with the viewer, Lovell’s works invoke issues of cultural heritage and personal identity as they imaginatively reflect the lives of forgotten Americans. Also included are the artist’s large-scale installations and works from the 1990s until the present.

Art critic, writer, and professor, Irving Sandler is the author of the memoir Swept Up by Art. Sarah Lewis is assistant professor of History of Art and Architecture and African and African American Studies, Harvard University. Kevin Quashie is professor of Africana Studies, Smith College. Klaus Ottmann is deputy director for Curatorial and Academic Affairs and Elsa Smithgall is curator, the Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Julie L. McGee is curator of African American Art, University Museums, University of Delaware.