Opening of the first comprehensive retrospective of Faith Ringgold's work

U.S. artist Faith Ringgold (b. 1930) is considered one of the most influential cultural figures of her generation. She is known for her narrative quilts as well as her paintings dedicated to themes of the civil rights movement. In her honor, the New Museum in New York City opens the retrospective Faith Ringgold: American People on February 17. Spanning more than sixty years, it offers the most comprehensive look yet at the groundbreaking artist's formidable vision. Ringgold's best-known series will be on view, highlighting her radical explorations of both gender and race-related identities. The artist incorporates these into the lush textures of her paintings as well as soft sculptures and her story quilts. In this way, Ringgold's fabric works, which are among the most important artworks of the last fifty years, combine local traditions and global references to create a polyphonic history of this country. In addition, the exhibition explores her figurative style and how it evolved in the face of the urgency of political and social change. As a result, Faith Ringgold: American People becomes a timely opportunity to experience the art of a U.S. icon through June 5, 2022.

African American artist, writer, educator and organizer Faith Ringgold was born Faith Will Jones on October 8, 1930 in New York City. Her work combines multidisciplinary practices of the Harlem Renaissance with the political art of young Black artists today. In doing so, she has drawn on her personal biography and collective history for sixty years to both document her life as an artist and mother as well as to amplify the struggle for social justice and equality. Some of Ringgold's work is among the most significant artworks of the civil rights era, and her experimental story quilts challenge the established hierarchies between art and craft. She has created a body of work that expresses the complexities of the American experience of life.