The black arts movement swept through the United States in the ’60s and ’70s, bringing together artists who had been systematically excluded from the art world. Fueled by the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements of the era, black artists confronted issues of race, politics and identity while pushing the boundaries of creative expression into new and uncharted waters.
.
The work of pioneer African American gallerist Linda Goode Bryant was included in the landmark exhibition SSoul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power 1963-1983. The exhibition showcased definitive works by artists of this era including Jack Whitten, Romare Bearden, Roy DeCarava, Ming Smith and Charles White, all of whom elevated the formal and conceptual possibilities of their respective mediums.
.
Bryant did the same for the gallery world, transforming the sterile white cube into a collective space for creativity, community, and conversation. In 1974, Bryant left her job at Education Director at the Studio Museum of Harlem to open Just Above Midtown (JAM) on 57 Street simply because she decided David Hammons absolutely had to show in New York, and he refused to exhibit at white galleries.
.
.
