"Unbranded: Reflections in Black by Corporate America" at LSU MOA
LSU Museum of Art 100 Lafayette Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802
Courtesy of the LSU MOA
Hank Willis Thomas, "So Glad We Made It," 1979/2006. Lambda photograph. ©Hank Willis Thomas. Courtesy of the artist andJack Shainman Gallery, New York.
In American society, advertising imagery constantly surrounds and inundates us. Artist Hank Willis turns his lens to the way this kind of media depicts African Americans, commenting on what it implies about race relations and unveiling hidden stereotypes and bigotry. Through forty photographs and digitally-altered images narrowed down from his original eighty-two works, Unbranded at the LSU Museum of Art walks the viewer through half a century of print advertising intended for Black Americans. The exhibition was organized in part by LSU MOA Curatorial Fellow Clarke Brown, and the LSU MOA thanks Alabama art collectors Becky Patterson and Doug McCraw for generously loaning the selection from their complete set.
There will be an opening reception and panel discussion on April 20 featuring LSU Museum of Art Curatorial Fellow Clarke Brown who organized this exhibit; Nancy Hampton, Interim Library Director at Xavier University of Louisiana; and Dr. Gheni Platenburg, Assistant Professor of Journalism at the Auburn University School of Communication and Journalism. They will speak on the history of cultural representation in advertising media, particularly regarding the publications Ebony and Jet Magazine. 6 pm.
